Finding Hope
by Red Maoh
Summary: SemiAU. Ignores events in XIII-2. After accomplishing their focus, the eight l'cie are forcibly sent to another world. They got separated and, due to the crystalitation, not everyone awoke at the same time. What will Lightning be able to do in order to find Hope? Will he even be the same?
1. Prologue

Hello! This is the first time that I write a story in english, so if there are grammar mistakes please tell me. I love the Hope/Light pairing so wait for it in this story.

I don't own anything but my own ideas

* * *

Lightning's POV

We were surrounded by a bright light. A blank space around us. Just shining blobs of soft colors dancing in front of us. And above. And below. There was no up nor down really. We were just floating in a warm light, sometimes suddenly showing a rainbow of colors. A peaceful feeling filled us.

I looked at my right and I saw my companions. I looked at my left and I saw my partner.

We've just accomplished our mission. Our supposedly impossible mission. We saved Cocoon and most of its people. Now they have a new place to live, Grand Pulse and their own means to do it, without the meddling of manipulative gods. The l'cie mark no longer decorated our body. We were free, without a focus anymore.

We were being rewarded. By becoming a crystal. All eight of us, just after avoiding the fall of Cocoon and its destruction, merged and become a gigantic crystal pillar which supported the world. Maybe our focus ended, but our burden just had started. We had the weight of the world literally on our shoulders. But it was fine. All of us were together in a comfortable place. Well, we "existed" seeing that it was difficult to think of our situation as "being". I knew who I was and how my body was, years of training saw to that, but I couldn't feel it. It was like being submerged in water, without the drowning, with all my senses dulled.

But it didn't matter. Nothing no longer mattered. All was fine. Everything finally ended.

Suddenly the blank space that surrounded us wasn't blank anymore. A soft pinkish light started to fill our vision. A shock made the "air" tremble. I wasn't as sure as before of the safety of the place where we were. I looked at my right and saw my sister and the idiot she had chosen as a lover, and extended my hand to them. I won't allow to be separated from Serah again. It was a horrible experience the last time and I was in no hurry to repeat it anytime soon. Serah had the same idea because she also extended her arm to me. As soon as we were able, we come close and hugged tightly, Snow bracing himself against Serah's back. Looking at my sister's boyfriend I was reminded of another person who became another essential part of my live. I looked for my partner but it was getting difficult to see anything. The lights shined too brightly and the space was starting to become blurry, no longer having clear borders. I located the forms of Vanille and Fang, always together, and a small one being catched by a larger one. I guess that Sazh reached his son. But I didn't saw Hope. I couldn't find my partner and, for the first time since I awoke in the blank space, I felt anxiety.

My heart skipped a beat when I felt a small hand on my shoulder. I looked to find amused stormy eyes. Of course Hope was able to reach me without problems. He had grown so much during our stay in Grand Pulse. All our past battles transformed a child in a young adult. It was a shame that he had to lose his childhood in such a way, but that was what will make him become a stronger person. He was my partner for a reason, not just a title to calm him as it was at the beginning. I trusted him with my back, in exchange for protecting his. We were a truly effective team. I guess that teaching him how to fight properly made us a perfectly coordinated team who didn't need words to know the best way to assist the other's plan.

I gave him my version of a smile when he sent me a way-too-cocky smile, having reached me without me taking notice was truly a feat. He took my hand and started to extend his free one to Vanille and company. It was better if everyone were together after all.

All of sudden the chaos began. Wide rays of light started to appear, destroying the space that surrounded us. We started to fall through a hole full of multicolored lights. We were falling way too fast, to the point that I was unable to open my eyes. I looked around me with difficulty and fear gripped me when I noticed that we weren't eight anymore. I saw how a pillar of light engulfed Vanille and Fang and made them disappear. I couldn't locate Sazh and Dajh. I clutched Serah and Hope stronger. I won't be separated from them!

The wind grew fiercer, destroying our tight group of four. We were still connected by our hands, but it was getting more and more difficult to keep holding them. I noticed a strong pull from my right. Serah and Snow were being pulled by a current of wind. Another pull on my left arm made me gasp. Hope's body was being sucked by another one. The opposite forces were making my arms hurt, stretching them to the point that I was starting to fear that my shoulders were out of their sockets. But I won't let go. I was stronger than that. So what if my body got hurt. So what if I lose my arms. I won't let go of my most important persons. My sister and my partner, both of them worthier than any part of my body.

I was starting to sweat. The pull was too strong and my vision started to get blurry. I felt it, I was going to faint due to the pain. I was stronger than that! I took a chance to look at Serah when I noticed that her hand was slipping due both of our sweating hands. It didn't help that she was being dragged by Snow weight. The bastard was too big!

Another change in my left hand made me look at Hope. For a moment I was surprised. Where Serah's face reflected the panic she was feeling, Hope's was calmer. He smiled me when he noticed I was finally looking at him, so I guessed that he was trying to get my attention for a while. He struggled with all his strength to flex his arms and took my hand in both of his. He confused me for a second when all he did was to put my hand on his forehead but once I saw his eyes I understood. We didn't need words to communicate. We were the perfect team, the most effective one.

I didn't get the chance to say no. To ask him to keep holding on a little more, just a little more, and everything will be alright. I would beg if necessary. But he knew. He knew me better than the rest and saw my strength leaving me. He saw the decision that I was unable to make but had no other option to do. He saw and chose for me, protecting me. He had my back. He was my partner.

He was leaving me.

I didn't have the time to notice that no longer my arms hurt. The time to notice the impact against Serah's body due to the lack of opposite force keeping me from reaching her.

I just saw him getting further from me until a light's pillar engulfed him too. I saw my partner disappear. I was unable to protect him. I broke my promise.

The world became black.


	2. Chapter 1

_I only own my own words_

* * *

A warm beam of light reached her eyes, making her blink. She focused her eyes in what was in front of her, but she could only see green. Greenish, tall plants surrounded her. She tried to step forward, but she couldn't. Looking at her feet she noticed that they were in the middle of an altar-look-alike made of crystal. Thankfully, the crystal was receding, freeing her.

She felt that she was forgetting something, but she was unable to recall anything.

Finally, all the crystal disappeared and she could move without anything hindering her. But, as soon as she was going to take her first step, everything came to her. The lucie's focus, Cocoon, Grand Pulse, Serah's crystallization, everyone's, Hope disappearing in the middle of a pillar of light…

She fainted.

* * *

Something was poking her. Once and once again. It was getting quite irritating. She was feeling very comfortable, but that insisting poking was disturbing her rest. Ok, that was enough. The next time she felt the poke, this time on her cheek, she caught the wrist of the offender. A low, but delighted, gasp escaped from the other person.

Opening her eyes, she saw something that, for a long time, thought that no longer would be able to do it. The lovely smile of her little sister welcomed her into the day.

-Good morning, sleepyhead-

Her brows furrowed. -That's no way to greet your older sister- he told her, in a stern voice although both of them knew that she wasn't serious. -All that time away from me and playing with people like that idiot has made you quite the rude child-

-"That idiot" is my fiancé, as you know-

-Please, don't remind me of that fact. Is way too early. - Lightning sat up on the bed, fully awake. She hugged her sister, inhaling her scent. It was such a nostalgic feeling, like becoming kids again, when everything was simpler. – I missed you so much. I thought that I lost you.-

-Me too. I was so lonely. But I knew that you will come to save me. You always do. - A small tear escaped her eye, but Lightning cleaned it with her thumb.

-Well, that was what I promised. That I will protect you-

-Yes. Although this time you had help-

Being reminded of their companions put her in a somber mood.

-Do you know where are the rest? More importantly, where are we?-

-Come on. Get dressed and I'll introduce you to everyone- Serah pointed to a pile of clothes and left the room, giving her sister a moment of privacy so she could change.

Lightning took the clothes. It was a simple pair of grey trousers and a white shirt. At least she felt comfortable. She only prayed that nobody messed with her things. She has to ask Serah where they were. Once she got dressed she left the bedroom. Now that she was no longer distracted by her sister, she looked at her surroundings. The house where she awoke was small but comfy, with walls made of wood and a lot of colorful tapestries and floors using animal skins as carpets. There was no door, just a couple of curtains separating her from the exterior.

The view was beautiful. She was in a small village, with a lot of houses made of wood. All of them were built following the current of a big river. She could see mountains, but they were quite far. Closer to the village was a small forest. Looking at it she guessed that that was the place where she woke up.

It was a nice day, not too warm. Seeing the position of the sun she thought that it was midday. Probably. She never slept so late so it was not a surprise when she suddenly felt a pang of hunger. Actually, she couldn't remember the last time she ate anything. It was before fighting in Eden… How many days had passed since then?

There were a lot of people outside. Children were playing and laughing. Women were doing different chores all around the village. Older people sat together, talking among each other. It was a peaceful place, so different from the craziness they left behind.

But, where were the men? And Serah?

-Sis! Here!- called Serah, who was close to a group of elders and a few kids playing with a rope. Well, that at least answered one of her questions.

As she come closer to that place, she could see the looks of curiosity from the people, but she didn't see any fear or rejection in them. She reckoned that her situation wasn't a novelty for these people. She wondered how many time passed since her sister became normal again.

-Sis, these people are the Ardantes, "Ardant" is the name of the village, and these are the elders of the village. From right to left they are Myrdam, Alder, Tokhan, Vald, Rouser and Douser. They are the ones who found us and took care of us when we were crystals and then after Snow and I woke- Lightning nodded to everyone as Serah announced their names. –She is my sister, Lightning.-

-Is a pleasure to finally meet you.- greeted the one called Alder

-Yes, your sister was getting worried with how long it was taking you two to wake up- Vald continued. All of them had kind features and seemed interested in her.

-Only two?- she asked, looking at her sister. She knew, of course she knew, but she needed someone to confirm it.

Serah nodded. –Yes. The only ones to land here were us three.-

-By the way, where is Snow?- she asked fast, trying to ignore her disappointment. She was really happy to be with Serah, but she couldn't forget the last image of Hope disappearing. She was so ashamed of herself. She couldn't keep her promise to protect him.

-He's gathering wood with some of the men of the village. The others are hunting.- answered other of the elders. Touser? Lightning wasn't good with names.

-They should arrive shortly. Soon will be the time to eat- as if her stomach heard those words, it grumbled. Embarrassed she tried to ignore to laughs of the children at her predicament.

-Don't worry sis, here they are.- said Serah, pointing at the forest.

By the loud voice that she could now hear, she didn't need to be alerted. Even more, she recognized the voice. He had to be a loud idiot wherever he went?

* * *

There were a lot of frantic movements around her. It seemed that everyone had a place and a role in the village. As soon as the men arrived, the children stopped their playing in order to help the women cleaning and sorting the food the men brought. All the men cleaned themselves first and then came to help preparing the food. She was surprised to see the coordination and order that they were able to keep. Everyone was necessary, a small link in a big chain. It was awe-inspiring.

-Sis! You're finally awake!- came the strident voice of Snow

-I'm not your sister!- she replied, as usual, avoiding Snow's hug.

-Aw, come on. Can't I be happy to see you again? In the flesh?-

If the idiot thought that he was being funny, she would have to remind him why her punches hurt so much. Some woman was leading them to a table that wasn't there before. They were some of the last people to sit. She noticed that the kids tended to sit close to Serah. She always had a special charm to deal with children.

Soon they started to eat. There were quite the variety of food, from weird looking vegetables to great smelling meat. Actually, everything smelled wonderfully. She took a bite and, although it was a little too spicy to her, she was too hungry to mind.

When they finished the villagers started to clean everything. She was going to help them when she was stopped by one of the elders. They signaled her to sit close to the biggest house entrance, where a large carpet was. It seemed that both Snow and Serah knew what was going to happen. Maybe it was finally time to get her answers.

When everyone was there, Serah looked at her indicating that it was fine to ask questions.

-Well, could you tell me where are we? And what happened when we arrived? How long has passed since we landed? Do you have any notice of something similar happening elsewhere?- she could keep asking questions, but the raised hand of one of the elders stopped her.

-First of all, we are in Ardant, at the south of Pinea, the biggest city in this part of the map.- at the mention of the word "map", two youngsters brought one. The elder talking signaled a place marked with the name of the village and then the city he mentioned. It was quite far and it looked that there was nothing but forest between them.

-I don't recognize those names. We aren't in Grand Pulse or Cocoon anymore, right?- Serah negated with her head. That complicated things. They were in a new place that they didn't know. It was nothing new, but last time everyone were together. –Wait a moment, if we are in another world how come that we understand each other?-

-That's because everyone is able to talk "Neutro", an old language that is used to communicate with different villages and countries. And, even if sometimes the accent is weird to us, it seems that is like what we talk. I felt so relieved when I woke alone and I was able to understand what they were telling me.-

-When did you woke? When did we arrive?-

-Two years has passed since you arrived. I remember it clearly. It was a clear night, full of stars and, suddenly, three of them fell from the sky. You scared us, for a moment we thought that the sky was attacking us. But none of you damaged us. Actually, the place in the forest where you landed started sprouting life. We never had so much wood until you came. It was truly a blessing. Some of us thought that you were stars, shining like that even in the dark, but then a man arrived in an airship and explained us what you were and what to expect.-

-A man?-

-They described him as a dark skinned man with funny hair- Snow told me, with a smile in his face. It was easy to know who it was. It was a relief to know that Sazh was alright.

-Then, half a year ago, I woke up.- continued Serah.- At first I was disoriented but they introduced themselves and told me that Sazh already explained them what we were and that we meant no harm. Sazh gave them an address so when all of us recovered we could contact him. It seemed that Sazh was looking for all of us, although we don't know how many of us he has found.-

-Serah has helped us a lot taking care of the children. And then Snow, 4 months after her, helped us gathering wood and hunting.-

-You're still an attention seeking idiot, are you not?-

-Of course not! It's only that I have the power to help so I did it. I've learned my lesson, you know?-

Her eyes told him that she didn't believe him but she didn't insist on the topic.

-Actually, we kept some of our powers- Serah informed her.

-That can not be possible! Our l'cie marks are gone.- She looked pointedly at her arm and then Snow's, where there was nothing.

-Yeah, is nothing like when we were marked but…- Snow didn't continue but raised his hand and a small flame appeared. The children were delighted. –It takes all my concentration to make this, but my body feels as strong as when we fought so maybe we keep only a few of our powers. Try it, Lightning.-

Not very convinced, she looked at the river and tried a water spell. She noticed the difference instantly. She still felt her power, her magic, but it was harder to use it. Finally, she released the tension inside her and a small explosion in the river created large pillars of water. Not exactly what she wanted but at least it was bigger than Snow's.

-Well, you were always better at the magic thing than me. You were able to heal too, right? That'll come handy in our travel. It's a shame that Vanille or Hope aren't her.. Auch!- Serah elbowed him.

-Where is Sazh's place? If he was able to find us maybe he found the rest. At least, he has the means to do it.- Lightning ignored Snow. An idiot with a big mouth will always be an idiot with a big mouth.

-Your friend is here, in Pinea. Walking, is a two weeks journey. But, if you wait just a few days, we can organize a carriage and you will be able to make the journey in only three days.-

-What do you think, sis? Sazh has already waited for us two years, a couple of days more wouldn't hurt. And we prefer to help them as much as we can before leaving. That way we can repay them for their hospitality.-

As if she could said no with Serah looking at her like that. Damned puppy eyes. Snow started laughing, knowing that while we were stronger, none of us could say no to her.

It seemed that they will stay in the village for a few days more before starting their journey in the search for their lost companions.

-Come on, the sooner we start, the sooner we will leave-


	3. Chapter 2

_I only own my own words._

* * *

Those "few days more" actually became five days. They did odd jobs all around the village.

Serah took care of the children. When they were younger, she told Lightning that she liked so much dealing with children that she wanted to be a teacher. Hopefully, once they return to their home she could do the job she loved.

Snow was a strong idiot, so all he could do was strength related jobs, like gathering wood and hunting. It seemed that once he tried to help repairing a house. The villagers learned fast that the word "delicacy" did not exist in Snow's vocabulary.

Lightning, for her part, helped a little with everything. Well, not everything. They let the children in her care once, when Serah was busy helping with the food. All of them behaved under her watch, but none of them had the desire to come close to her for the next two days. When they returned her her weapon, she helped with the hunting and the making and repair of the villager's weapons.

In the meantime, she trained her magic again. She wanted to know her limits. As Snow said, they weren't as powerful as when they were l'cies. She still had enough magic to use it to attack, unlike Snow, but her healing skills had pretty much disappeared. She only could heal scratches now. Serah didn´t have magic when she was a l'cie, but seeing that her focus was to unite the other l'cie maybe she could make the difference in the search in her own special way.

When the day to leave arrived, everyone in the village was sad to see them go. The kids didn't want to let Serah go, crying and begging. The bravest even approached Lightning to ask her to come back. The elders assured them that they were welcomed to return when they wanted, and wished them luck.

The carriage was ready with enough food to last more than a week. From Lightning's point of view it was way too much, seeing that the journey would last 3 days more or less, and only another villager accompanied them (to be able to make the journey back with the carriage).

Anyway, once they started to travel, all of them resumed their magic training. They didn't know what kind of dangers existed in this world, so it was better to be prepared. Serah tried to meditate, in order to feel something, but she wasn't having any luck.

Lightning was reminded of the first time they landed on Grand Pulse. All around them it was a green landscape, with clear rivers and a lot of wild animals. Thankfully none of them were as troublesome as the ones in Grand Pulse. She didn't want to think how could they battle against a _Long Gui_ look-alike in their current state.

The scenery changed when they got closer to Pinea. There were more mountains, and the rivers were wider. When they finally arrived to the city's borders they could see that it was built in a lower level than where they were. The greatest difference with Ardant was the enormous lake that they could see. If it wasn't for the mountains that they could see far in the distance, they could think that it was the sea.

Another difference was the ships. All kind of ships and vehicles crossed the city. The airships were kind of weird. They resembled a weird looking boat with a system of rowing paddles interconnected. Also, was that smoke?

Their guide reclaimed their attention. It wasn't safe for the carriage wholeness to cross such narrow streets. With another bittersweet goodbye, they saw their last link of their hosts go.

Following the indications that Sazh left with the elders, they found his address. They hoped that Sazh didn't move out in these two years. Snow knocked the door of the apartment and waited. And waited. Maybe there was nobody at home. When he was going to knock again they heard sounds from inside.

Finally the door opened and a dark skinned male came out. But it wasn't Sazh. He had the skin colour and the afro hair. He was way too small to be Sazh, but he was too old to be…

-Snow! Serah! Lightning!-

…Dajh

.

.

* * *

She knew that there always existed that possibility. When she learned the different times in which Serah, Snow and she woke up, a part of herself couldn't avoid to think about it. "What if"…

What if the others still were crystal? No problem, they'll find them.

What if they were already awake? Even better, the search will be easier.

What if a lot of years has passed since someone woke up?

What if Hope woke up years ago, alone? What if he isn't alive anymore?

No! She couldn't think like that!. She always tended to be very realistic about the diversity of options, but this was just herself being pessimist. Not knowing was making her really anxious.

All of this chaos was inside her mind while Dajh invited them inside. They were currently sitting and Dajh was playing host, offering them drinks. Looking at Dajh now, and comparing him with the little one they met at first, only made more real the fact that they didn't know the fate of their companions.

-Whoa, Dajh, you're really big! How old are you now?- asked Snow

\- I've turned eleven last month -

-Eleven! Wait wait wait, that means that you've been awake for… how old were you in Cocoon?-

-I was six when everything started. It's been four years since dad and I woke up-

Four years!? But the Ardantes said that they landed two years ago! That means that they didn't arrive at this world at the same time. What if someone hasn't arrived yet? How will they be able to find them?

-Where is your father Dajh?- asked Serah, who was sitting next to him. Again, children tended to be closer to Serah than the rest, although this time may be related with the time they were together as crystals.

-Dad is working. He'll come back tomorrow, most likely.-

-Who woke up first, Dajh?-wanted to know Lightning. Poor Dajh if he was the first one, so little and alone. Just like Hope… But he wasn't so little, nor he was weak. He could take care of himself, at least until she find him. She had to believe in that.

-We woke up together, at the same time. I was lucky because we were in the middle of the lake and I didn't know how to swim. Cokrane found us and has been helping us since then-

-Cokrane?-

-Yes. He is a merchant. Actually, Pinea is a city full of merchants and trade buildings. Cokrane is just a very special one. I think he was feeling alone, or truly needed help and didn't have enough money to hire someone. Anyway, he found us in the lake, dried us, feed us and give dad a job and a roof to live. He also keep our origins as a secret.-

-Secret? Why?-

-I'm not sure, you have to ask dad for more information, but I think that there are people who won't react so well about our presence here-

-Well, we did fall from the sky, right? If it wasn't for Sazh the Ardantes would have kept thinking that we were stars…- added Snow, who was refilling his cup and eating some snacks.

-How come that Sazh was able to find us? Do you know if he had found someone else?- asked Lightning.

-Well, we didn't have the means to start searching for you at the beginning. Thankfully, the job that Cokrane offered dad changed that. When Cokrane realized that dad knew how to pilot an airship, he showed him the ones he had. Dad started to carry goods from one place to another. Are you able to use your l'cie powers?-

-Yes, somehow. But they are really weakened. I only keep my strength and endurance, but my magic is laughable. Lightning still has her magic, but she can't heal anymore.- said Snow.

-I never had any special power, so…- continued Serah.

-I wouldn't be so sure- answered Dajh. Seeing our confused faces he explained himself.- As you know, my focus was to find the Fal'cie, and the l'cie. You could say that that was my power. In fact, we were able to find the others thanks to that.-

-The others?- hope started to rise inside Lightning.

-Yes. Dad brought me with him because I was too small to leave alone in this house. One of those times I felt a pull. We had already finished our job so we had the time to investigate. That's how we found Vanille and Fang. They were crystals inside a cave, close to a beach. It was difficult to reach the place, so they were safe at the moment. We keep being alert in our travels and checked on them from time to time.

Three years ago, Vanille was waiting for us. It seemed that she was aware of everything, even the time inside the crystal. She told us that they appeared in the cave ten years ago, but only us had been able to find them. She took charge of protecting Fang's crystal and told us that, when she returned to normal again, both of them would collect information about our situation and that it would be better if we keep searching for the rest.

Then, two years ago I felt a pull when we were flying over Ardant. We travelled around the area before, but that was the first time that I felt something. We learned that a couple of stars fell from the sky a few nights before our arrival. When we made sure that it was you guys, we explained our circumstances to the Ardantes and they promised us to protect you and to give you a way to find us.

We've been unable to find Hope, but we think that I need to be close to the area where he landed to feel him. And there are a lot of places that we haven't visited, due not being in our route. That, or he hasn't arrived yet.-

-Whoa, you've been busy. I'm starting to feel bad for being asleep all this time…- commented Snow.

-What did you mean when you said that Serah may have a power?-

-Well, my focus was to "find" and I was able to feel the place where the others were. Serah's focus was to "unite", right? Dad told me so. So, if I'm able to find she'll probably able to "unite". Maybe all of us are already awake and will be reunited again now that Serah's awake.- he shrugged.

One can only hope.


	4. Chapter 3

A/n: Hello. As I've said before, this is my first time writing in english. I would like to know what do you think of my grammar, vocabulary, etc. Am I doing fine? Should I do something different? What's better: keep updating short chapters every 3-5 days or longer chapters each week? I'll be grateful of your opinion.

 _I just own my own words_

* * *

True to his words, Sazh returned the next day. The reunion was truly heartwarming. Dajh was part of them, seeing that he was involved in everything that had happened, but Sazh was ONE of them. He was part of the team that had to fight for their lives and the lives of every human. He was one of the l'cie who had to battle against monsters, humans and Gods in order to obtain their freedom and to save their loved ones.

Maybe it was just her, but with Sazh with them again, she felt just a little more complete.

Sazh told them pretty much the same that Dajh did. They decided that the next step was to find Vanille and Fang and put together all the information that they had found during all this time, not that Lightning's group will contribute much.

First, Sazh needed to talk with his boss, Cokrane, to be allowed to travel to the last area in which he knew that Vanille stayed. With some luck, he'll need to delivery something somewhere in that area.

Sazh had to keep trying for four days until his boss relented. During that time, Dajh showed them the city and told them everything that he knew about that place. Lightning noticed that, while the Ardantes used too much s's when they used neutro, the people of Pinea used stronger k's. It was interesting to notice the different accents. Sometimes, they heard merchants talking among them in another dialect that they couldn't understand. Dajh explained them that every area had their own dialect. When he accompanied his father he was able to heard three different dialects. And he knew that there were even more.

They got ready and then went in search of Vanille. Sazh knew that she went to the west so they'll start from there. Hopefully Dajh could perceive them even if they weren't crystals anymore.

They asked in every village that they found. In some they had seen Vanille and Fang recently, and in others never. They drew a map of their movements in order to predict the place where they could be. Dajh hadn't felt anything, but they didn't know if it was because they were no longer crystals or they were too far away.

There were places that they had problems accessing with the airship, so they searched the zone by foot.

It was one of those times when the weather changed for the worst. They were in an esplanade when it started to pour rain like they never saw before. The rain was so strong that it was really hard to see anything in the distance. They searched for shelter and, seeing that there wasn't any danger in being hit by a lightning, they sought for it in the woods.

They were pretty wet and they started to feel the cold, so Lightning had to create a fire to get warm. It was impossible to dry themselves while it still rained, but at least they won't catch a cold. It was so sudden that they didn't feel anything until they heard the growl just behind them. All of them fell to the ground and rolled out of the path of the beast. A big shadow passed them. They could feel the thumping sounds of each of its steps.

Serah and Dajh got behind Sazh, Snow and Lightning. Thankfully the rain was weaker than before so they could see their opponent. The beast was an enormous feline, darker than black, with fangs as long as one of Dajh's arms.

-Ok, listen to me. Same strategy as always. Sazh, cover us and don't let it come close to Serah and Dajh. Snow, you keep it distracted while I find its weak point.-

There was no need for more instructions, all of them knew their orders. They fought together so many times that they could do it with their eyes closed. They didn't need to voice any directions to coordinate themselves in their attacks. It was always the same patron: Snow punched, kicked, provoked and shielded himself and Lightning when one of its claws came too close to her. Sazh attacked and distracted the beast with his shoots every time he could. Lightning was everywhere and nowhere at the same time. She was fast, she was effective and she was deadly. She cut, shot and damaged it with her magic.

It was a dance. Since arriving to this new and unknown world, she always felt worried and anxious, due to Hope absence most of the time. This was the first time she felt alive. Her blood ran strongly through her veins, warming and awakening her body. She couldn't help to smile.

They were stronger than the beast. They were experienced. They were too confident.

They weren't as strong as when they were l'cie. Their bodies hadn't had enough time to get used to this world's environment so they felt heavier than usual. Snow was fine until he suddenly dropped to his knees. He was nicked in the arm by a fang. It was nothing serious, but the place was getting inflamed so the beast was probably poisonous. The problem: Lightning could no longer heal him.

She tried to, but her distraction nearly came with a great price. The beast bypassed her, having identified her as something too strong to be prey. There were two better candidates. With a swift movement, the beast threw Sazh against a tree.

There was nothing between the beast and Serah and Dajh. Lightning tried to shot it with her strongest magic but it didn't react to her attack.

The beast pounced.

And it got tangled in some kind of wire. From nowhere a fast figure approached and hit the beast on the head, where Lightning had hurt it multiple times. A strong wind separated it from Serah and Dajh.

The new warrior kept hitting the beast, who started to become slower and slower after each hit. Finally, a pillar of fire ended the beast's life.

The warrior came closer to where Snow fell and Lightning was trying to heal him, without much success.

A cocky smirk drew itself on her tanned face.

-Kids, the dinner's ready!-

Vanille's giggles could be heard over the sound of the rain.

* * *

It was incredible. They were there, they really were there. It was obvious that they had changed during all this time that they were travelling. They wore less flashy clothes, Fang let her hair grow and now it was up in a messy ponytail. Contrary to her, Vanille cut her own. Now it barely passed her chin, and bobbed every time she moved her hear. Seeing that Vanille was never still, looking at her curls could make you dizzy.

They decided to bring the dead beast to the airship and eat it for dinner. It served the big cat right! Also, now that they found, or were found, Vanille and Fang, they could return to the airship and change clothes.

Vanille gave everyone a strong hug before healing Snow. The ease with which she did it hurt Lightning's pride a little but she was the healing specialist of the group, alongside Hope, so it wasn't so bad.

Meanwhile, Fang punched his arm, hard if Snow's face was any indication, and started to mock him for his injury.

-It's beeeen awhile, isn't it? So much that you've became way weaker, eh Mr. Hero? Maybe the old age it's getting to you?-

-It's hardly my fault. The bastard didn't accept that it had to die! And I didn't know it was poisonous!-

-Yeah, because is truly intelligent to be too confident when dealing with an unknown enemy.-

-It was our fault. We've became too dependent of our l'cie powers and so used to having them that we forgot that we aren't as indestructible as before.- admitted Lightning, who was greeted by Fang with a hit of their fists. – It was really a great timing that you appeared when you did.-

-Actually we were attracted by the light of the fire that you lit. Like that beast, I guess.- explained Vanille. -It was truly a great coincidence that we arrived at the perfect time to help you guys.-

-I don't think it's a coincidence.- said Dajh.

-What do you mean?- wanted to know Fang.

-Well, as I've said before, I think that is thanks to Serah's power that you found us so easily. You could have ignored the light of the fire, or keep walking, yet you chose to investigate it. I think that unconsciously you felt the pull of Serah's presence.-

Dajh detailed explanation was meet with astonished silence before Vanille exploded and went to suffocate poor Dajh between her arms.

-Dajh! You've become so clever! Why did you have to grow so much! Don't worry, you're still the cutest!-

-Ahh, I'm afraid that it's my fault.- said Sazh.-He decided that it was his turn to protect me so he made the effort to understand everything he could since our arrival to this world.-

-He's a big boy who needs to take care of his old geezer, right?- said Vanille, pulling Sazh's hair, where you could see a growing group of grey hairs.

-Talking about passive powers, did you feel anything before they came closer Dajh?- wanted to know Lightning. If Dajh's power only worked when they were crystals it could be a problem to find Hope if he was already awake.

-Hmm, I'm not sure. I did feel a tremor before they appeared but I don't know if it was due to the attack, the cold or them. Sorry.-

-Hey, it's not your fault. We'll be able to find Hope either way, don't worry.- tried to comfort him Serah.

-Do you have any notice of him?- asked Lightning to the pair.

-Afraid not. A few months ago we heard the rumor from a traveler that a group of stars fell from the sky in a village of the east. We thought that you were together so we were surprised when we didn't see him with you.- Lightning tried to ignore to pain that those words provoked.

-Yes, we were separated by those pillars of light. Do any of you know what they were?- asked Serah.

-Yeah, and how come that you're still so strong? We've lost most of our powers yet you two don't seem affected.-interceded Snow.

Vanille and Fang looked at each other before shrugging.

-It isn't a mystery why. You see, that "crystal" is in truth a cocoon that protects the l'cie from outside attacks, to be noticed by other fal'cies and time itself. The cocoon, or shield, is made by the magic inside the own l'cie. All people have magic in a way. The fal'cie just give their chosen ones the means to use it, and a boost.-

-Don't forget that Fang and I have already been crystals for 500 years before.- continued Vanille. –We think that this second time our bodies were more used to the crystal's presence around us so they absorbed all the residual magic. We don't have the same amount of power than before but we've kept most of it.-

-Do you know what those lights were? Or why and how are we here now?-

-We don't know the why but the how… As we've learned there were a variety of gods, fal'cies and other powerful beings in our world. One of them was Etro, who had the power to travel between dimensions so it could have been her. Maybe this is another test.-

-But we've already completed our mission. Why would they continue testing us? What do they win out of this?- asked Serah.

-That I can't answer, sorry.-

-If all of this is a test I have the feeling that we won't pass it until we are all together. If the whole group isn't complete we won't be able to move on.- Sazh thought out loud.

-I didn't need a God's test to do that. Finding Hope was always my objective.- clarified Lightning.

Always.


	5. Chapter 4

_I only own my own words_

* * *

They all returned to Sazh's house for the moment. They decided that it was better to be in a place where it was easier to obtain information from other parts of the world. Pinea was a city full of merchants who travelled around the world, so if there is a rumor of another "star" or the sight of a special crystal, they'll heard it.

Vanille and Fang told the rest stories about what they have been doing since Fang woke up, just a few months after Vanille told father and son to let her protection to the redhead. Like Vanille, Fang was more or less conscious inside the crystal.

They travelled through the west side of the coast, close to the place where they were in the first place. Some of the dialects that they heard were similar enough to the one used in Oerba, so they were better accepted by the locals and shared information easily. They saw all kind of wild animals, both in the sea and in the land. They looked quite similar to the ones in their world, but smaller, for the most part. After all, there were beasts like the one they faced off when they got reunited. The greatest difference was the lack of magic. Oh, they were powerful and resistant, but at least they couldn't fry you. Although a lot of them were poisonous, so there were a lot of places where people avoided to go, in fear of their lives. There was a city in the north-west full of medical herbs and plants, so this world had a great development in medical remedies, but it wasn't enough for a normal person to fight against those beasts.

As always, the capital had the greatest military power of the rest of the cities. Sazh, who due to his job travelled there a few times, was the one who knew better about the capital and the government of this world. The capital's name was Bellved, located on the north-east. There was were the greatest soldiers were trained and where the ones in charge of the whole area resided. That gave them a great deal of power over the rest of the cities.

Also, there were a lot of mountains close to them, full of raw materials, like metals and coal, so necessary for the airships and other means of transport. In resume, Bellved existence was essential to the country where they were.

Sazh described the political power of Bellved as a military hierarchy. A big guy who decided everything, four generals who controlled the area under each cardinal point, and a lot of men under their orders.

The civilians worked for the capital's sake, a little like how the people used the fal'cie in their world. But, if a civilian was truly gifted, he could rise in the society scale. In a way it was a society where the best ones blossom while the normal people keep their usual place.

Then there were distant villages who didn't participated in the power plays of the capital, like Ardant, although they were under the same laws. They will never be as developed technologically, but at least they were free to do as they pleased. Unless their lands had something the capital wanted, but there were few places which haven't been studied by the bellvedians so things won't change so easily. Nobody had the desire to.

Lightning was restless. She knew that they didn't have a hint of where Hope could be, but she didn't feel right staying in one place while her partner was who-know-where. She also knew that just walking around wouldn't help her. The fact that Vanille and Fang travelled for three years and didn't even know that there was another crystal out there apart from them was what kept her from leaving and search everywhere.

-Okay, enough!- a slam startled everyone. Serah had hit the table with a bunch of papers.-I'm getting dizzy and stressed just looking at you, sis. I know that you are worried for Hope, but making a hole on the floor won't help anyone.-

If it was any other person, she would have eaten them alive but, seeing that it was Serah, she took a deep breath and calmed herself. Serah knew better than provoke her unnecessarily.

-So, what do you propose then?-

-I know that we don't have any way right now to locate Hope. But we could try to guess where he could be or appear, if he haven't done so yet. We just need to cross out the places in the map that we know he isn't there.-

All seemed to think that it was a logical reasoning so they started to draw crosses in the places that they knew for sure that Hope wasn´t. Most of the west was out and a great part of the south-east. It seemed likely that Hope could be at the north-east, seeing that Lightning's group landed on the east, Vanille's on the west and Sazh on the center, although a little on the south of the map.

Another thing that they noticed was that all of them were close to water when they appeared in this world. Ardant's river was the longest of the map, Pinea has an enormous lake and Vanille and Fang's cave was in a cave close to the sea.

They circled the places in the map which had large areas with water. Most of them were close to the capital.

-Sooo, it seems that is likely that Hope is in the capital, right?- said Snow

-I don't think so.- added Sazh. He had a somber grimace looking at the map.-I hope that Hope was luckier than to end in the capital.-

-Why do you say that?-

-Bellved has been in power pretty much since forever, so they are used to be the most powerful force out there. If they found that there were people like us, with special powers, they could try to either use, experiment or just kill us.-

Lightning didn't need to hear that precisely. Now she was getting more and more agitated.

-What is this place?- she asked, pointing to a place that wasn't crossed nor circled. It was close to the capital, but closer to a group of mountains, and full of trees. She needed to stop thinking of the possibility of Hope's fate if he actually was in Bellved.

-That's the Kabul forest.- answered Vanille.- That's quite the most dangerous place of this country.-

-Why?-

-You remember that I told you that this place wild animals most dangerous feature was that some of them were poisonous, right? Well, most of them are there, alongside some poisonous plants too. Let's say that only suicidal people will enter that forest.-

-Unless you are accompanied by febes.- added Sazh.

-Febes? What's that?-

-Febe is the name of the most dangerous warriors of this world. Bellved's army is the greatest, but not even them dare to enter the Kabul forest without a febe. The febes live inside Kabul, surrounded by so many dangerous things that everyone fears approaching them. Is the worst kept secret that Bellved's people wish to conquer their land and have them under their control but are unable to. Every time that they've tried to attack them, the febes just hid inside the forest and let the wild beings there kill Bellved's warriors. They've made several deals of peace and some representatives have gone with them to their home, but the tension between the two is still high.-

Great. This was getting even better. Hope could have landed in the most dangerous area, surrounded by a conflict between the strongest fighters, some of them wishing his dead due to his power. A power that could no longer protect him as well as before. That's it. She couldn't stay here, perfectly safe, while Hope was in mortal danger. She was his partner, she promised him to always protect him and she had already broken that promise when she couldn't avoid getting separated from him inside that light pillars. God's test or not, she won't forgive herself if something happened to him. It seemed that it was always the people important to her the ones that get isolated and faced problems alone.

-Well, I don't know you but I'm going to Bellved to search for Hope.- stated Lightning

-Are you crazy? Haven't you heard what I've just said?- asked Sazh

-So what. Should I abandon Hope just because is dangerous?-

-I didn't say that. Just that we don't know for sure that Hope is there. And it'll be a suicide to go there due to a hunch.-

-I promised him that I'll always protect him yet I let him go. He is alone and it's my fault. What if it was Dajh the one who was alone and pretty much powerless? Won't you go there to investigate if there was the smallest possibility that he is there?-

-We don't lose anything to try it.- said Vanille. Out of everyone else, Vanille was probably Hope's best friend. They spent a lot of time together in Grand Pulse, being the healers of our team, they always fought close to the other. –We just need to be cautious and try to avoid attracting attention to ourselves. We could use the excuse of delivering some package to the capital to enter. Or maybe just look around the place as tourists? Either way, we avoid getting noticed by the higher ups while we ask the civilians.

-It's fine for me. I'm going.- said Snow.

-Hope has already suffered enough because a god's whims. We need to find and protect him.- added Serah, most likely remembering that not long ago Hope lost his mother due to Eden's purge conflict.

Both Fang and Vanille nodded. It was just Sazh then. Dajh came closer to his father and tool his hand.

-Please dad, Hope is alone. He is one of our friends, and friends should always help each other.-

-Okay.- Sazh sighed.- But you will let me talk first to Cokrane to prepare some legit excuse to go to the capital. Nothing like charging blindly, ok? This is dangerous. Is better if we practice our fighting techniques again and train our magic. We'll need all the weapons that we have for this.-

Everyone accepted those conditions. The group was ready to accomplish its new focus.

* * *

Like last time, it took Sazh a few days to convince his boss to let him go to the capital using work as an excuse. In the end, he decided to change Sazh's route with an acquaintance's employee's one.

The job was to bring coal to a refinery in the outskirts of Bellved so it was great to their plans. They were really lucky as it seemed that, in the last months, the capital has been requesting large quantities of a diversity of materials, like oil, coal, etc.

They decided that it was better to pass as mere travelers interested in the city, seeing that nobody would believe that all of them were merchants.

Before leaving, they defined the details of the plan. The whole idea was to enter the city, visit the inns and taberns and see if there were any rumors about Hope. They decided to spend just three days or so in the city, to avoid getting undesired attention. If they don't find anything, then they'll investigate the surrounding villages.

There was no problem with the first part of the mission. They delivered the coal and the people there gave them permission to leave the airship there. Then, they went to the city on a carriage who helped travelers reach the capital, if you paid the price obviously.

The capital was majestic. Really tall white walls guarded the city. Once they passed the inspection at the doors they could see the rest of the capital. It looked like a pyramid, with the tallest place at the center. The most important people resided there. It seemed that the city was divided in circular sections, from the least important to the most important ones. They explored a little, looking at everything. The places that they had access as travelers were limited, only a third of the city and never close to the center.

There were a lot of people on the streets, with some kind of excited feeling around them. They stopped in the first tabern that they found. After ordering a few drinks, juice for Dajh, Fang asked the waitress if something important was happening in the city, like a festival.

-Oh, nothing like that. Is just that some special guests have arrived recently. Everyone wants to see them, seeing that is so rare for them to leave the forest.-

The forest? Surely she couldn't be implying what they were thinking. What were the odds of that?

-Are you talking about the Kabul forest? Are you saying that there are febes here?-

-What else could it be? The kids love the chance to see one of those mysterious warriors.-

Febes in Bellved. Two of the most likely holders of Hope's whereabouts information at the same time as them? They were perplexed.

-Well, I've always believed in Serah's influence.- proclaimed Dajh, who was happily drinking his juice.

Serah's power indeed.


	6. Chapter 5

_I only own my own words_

* * *

After learning about the febes presence in Bellved they needed to rethink their strategy. They paid for the biggest room in the closest inn, in order to stay together, and after dinner they decided to make the necessary changes. The problem was that they didn't want to be noticed by the bellvedians and have them investigating their origin and powers, but they needed to get the attention of the febes if they wanted to ask them about Hope. So they thought that the best option was to divide themselves in two teams: one would have the best ones at stealth and they will try to infiltrate the center zone, where the febes were, and try to find them; the other would stay in the outer area, among the civilians and travelers, and try to catch any hint of any information related to Hope.

The next day, Fang, Vanille and Lightning started to search for weakness in the separation levels of the city. Snow wanted to come with them, but he couldn't be silent to safe his live. Besides, his boisterous personality will help the others to recollect information from gossipers and naive drunkards.

Lightning's group escalated walls, walked on roofs and avoided guards. Nobody noticed them, but they couldn't interact with anyone either, so it was difficult to learn anything or to find someone. Sazh told them that the febes were famous for wearing black clothes, but all the people they saw were wearing yellow and grey uniforms. They distinguished two kinds of people among everyone they saw: soldiers-like and researchers-like. The last ones were obvious because there were a lot of people who were in a hurry, carrying a lot of papers or weird contraptions. Bellved was the center of the technologic development, so it wasn't so weird that the middle area was destined to the investigation centers. That helped them to learn more about the city, but it wasn't helping them in finding any hint.

They decided to leave for the day and reunite with the rest of the group. With luck, they'll have heard something.

When they met at the inn's room, a quick look at their faces answered them. They weren't lucky. As Sazh explained them, all the people were talking about were the visit of the febes. It seemed that they were in the middle of another negotiation with the bellvedian government. The only useful information they learned was that the febes stayed in the city for four days and they'll leave in one or two days at most.

Seeing that this could be their last chance to make contact with such elusive people, tomorrow they'll try to reach the center of the city.

The morning started the same way as the previous day. They didn´t find any difficulty to reach more or less the same place as yesterday. Maybe that should have rung alarm bells in Lightning's head.

They found the need to change routes a few times to avoid a confrontation with the guards. After that happened the fourth time, Lightning started to became suspicious. By the time she was going to alert Fang it was too late. To her surprise, the next turn they had to take led them to a small square surrounded by tall buildings. The problem was when they saw the rest of their group arriving at the same place at the same time.

It was a trap!

They were leaded like sheep. Lightning cursed her luck and the lack of communication devices. Having them could have avoided the current events.

-Sis! How come you are here?- asked Serah, running to her. Snow noticed the tension in the air, so he made sure that Serah and Dajh were in the middle of the group. Sazh put his hand in his gun's holsters as he searched the roofs with the eyes.

-We ended here avoiding some guards. You?- Lightning also searched with her gaze for enemies. She noticed some shadow's movements in the building's alleys.

-The same. Some group of soldiers started to follow us after the second pub we visited. Running from them we reached here. What's happening?.-

-They lured us into a trap. Keep your eyes open, we don't know when we are going to be attacked.-

-Attacked? Why would we attack you?- a feminine voice said. A young woman appeared from one of the alleys, accompanied by two armed guards. Her experience told Lightning that the roofs were full of ready men too. She wore a yellow uniform and had short blond hair. Her disposition was like Vanille's: happy and almost childlike. –Is there a reason for us to attack you?-

-You tell me. You're the one who lead us here and are surrounding us with armed men- answered Lightning, never one to cower in difficult circumstances.

-I assure you that we're only taking the city's security in consideration. After all, is way too unusual for a group of mere tourists to investigate our installations.-

Lightning understood their situation at that moment. They thought that they were some kind of spies. And their behavior didn't help at all.

-This is a misunderstanding. We learned about the visit of the febes and were only curious. We wanted to see them so we searched for them.-

-And nobody told you that there were zones out of limits for normal civilians?-

-Is our first time in the capital and I'm afraid that we don't know all the rules of the city.-

-Hmmm, understandable. But you also understand that not knowing a law doesn't absolve you, right? You'll have to come with me to be interrogated.-

-I swear that that's no necessary. We mean no harm.-

-That's comforting, but rules are rules and all of you must be investigated. If there's nothing to hide there's nothing to fear, isn't it?-

With a quick signal, the girl ordered a few guards to "escort" them. It was better to not offer resistance at the moment and wait things to solve for themselves. They could fight and run away, but that'll destroy all the chances to return to the capital or to meet the febes. Also, if they became runaways, again, it'll be more difficult to survive in this world, and they didn't have the support of a fal'cie or skillful friends here. Better to try to survive this issue first, in the most civil way possible. If they're lucky, they'll receive only a slap in the hand. As long as they don't discover their abilities…

Alyssa, as their "guide" identified herself, was truly a talkative person. It didn't matter that nobody was truly answering her, she kept talking about inane things. There were no civilians in their way to the interrogation center, maybe they were alerted of problems and the guards evacuated them. If it was so, Lightning had to admire their diligence. If they weren't such a potential and powerful adversary…

Lightning ignored most of Alyssa's chattering, but a sentence caught her attention.

-… it was so surprising to see some "black boots" as you in the middle of the street.-

-"Black boots"? Excuse me but, what are "black boots"?-

Alyssa looked at her with such a speculative look that it put her on guard in an instant. Lightning also noticed the way she looked al Vanille when she was checking her dark brown boots to see if they seemed as black as Alyssa said. For her part, the bellvedian girl just made a humming noise and kept walking.

Suddenly, Lightning wasn't so sure about the childish character of the blonde.

-Here we are!- announced Alyssa. They've arrived to a tall edifice without windows, so they couldn't see the interior. Nor they could escape should the need arise. –The boss should be ready to receive you. If you would so nice to follow me.-

The young woman guided them through the confusing hallways until they reached a couple of big steel doors. Alyssa pressed a button close to her chin on her jacket and talked to it.

-Sir, I brought them-

 _-Ok, bring them in.-_ a male voice answered.

The doors opened and they entered a wide room with just a few occupants. The one in the center had his back turned on them while he talked to another man clad in a black uniform. He was tall and thin, with a yellow uniform like the rest of the no-civilian bellvedians. His short hair was in a familiar silver color.

* * *

Lightning felt her breath leaving her. Her gaze was locked on the figure before her, unable to see the rest of the room's occupants. Could it be? It's possible to believe in the probability of this? If, at the end, all of this was because of Serah, she was going to kiss her sister until her lips leave a mark.

He was taller. How long has he been awake? Was he even real?

She was so anxious to see his smile again. To be reassured that he was fine. That he didn't blame her. She was ready to go to him, with his name on her lips.

Her Hope turned to face her and the illusion broke. The eyes weren't right, too blue and cold. The mouth wasn't right, too thin and severe. The face wasn't right either. Nothing was right. He… was not Hope.

Lightning felt her soul shatter and drop to her feet. She was so sure. She could swore that she felt Hope when she crossed the doors. Was she losing herself? Tricking herself to see Hope anywhere? She needed to get her act together or she could endanger all of them.

She nearly lost the conversation between Alyssa and her superior, no-Hope. Now that she wasn't so blind by the illusion she looked at the rest. Her companions were nervous. Sazh in particular had a peculiar grimace on his face. She followed his line of sight and saw the people who was talking to the impersonator. A tall man clad in black, met her sight. His whole body was covered in black, leather-like clothes. Even the face was covered by some kind of mask. Behind him a female in similar clothes observed them.

Suddenly it clicked. Those were the febes! Holy sh..! Without any control of it, they've found themselves in a dire situation. Now, what to do…?

-Alyssa told me that she found you snooping around our installations. Whatever for?- asked the man.

-Aah, you have to excuse us. We were just over curious about such an interesting event as the visit of the febe to the capital- asked Sazh. It was better to let him talk, seeing that he was the one who had been dealing with the people of this world for longer.

-And you are?-

-I'm just a merchant. Not even that, just the delivery boy of one of them. My friends and I chose one of my deliveries to this area to see the capital.-

-What delivery?-

-Coal. We delivered it a couple of days ago to the refinery in the outskirts.-

-Make sure that's true.- the man ordered one of his underlings, who left the room.- While we wait, why don't you introduce yourselves?- They looked among themselves, uncertain.- Ah, forgive my rudeness. I should be the one to start. My name is Selven Zaldiar, General of the North.-

A general!? They were screwed. Not wanting to annoy such a powerful figure, Sazh introduced all of them. Lightning noticed a small twitch in the febe female, but no other reaction occurred.

-Splendid. And where are you from?-

-My son and I come from Pinea. The rest are travelers I met on my journeys.- thanks to Sazh and his quick thinking.

-Hmm. Is curious, how interested you claim to be in the febes, yet none of you had given them any attention.-

-Well, it seemed rude to ignore someone of your status, sir.-

-Indeed. As the General of the North, I'm the one who usually deals with them so I can say that I'm quite knowledgeable of them. I could even say that I'm the one who know the most about them. That makes me question, why should such experimented warriors use someone as noticeable as you as "Black Boots"?-

That last words seemed to provoke a reaction on the febes, who looked sharply at Sleven.

-I assure you that they are not Black Boots. We don't use them as much as you think.- answered the big guy.

-Excuse me but, what are Black Boots? Alyssa also said it before.- asked Serah

Sleven looked at her and studied her before answering. Lightning didn't like the way his eyes shined when looking at Serah. Snow opined the same if his fidgeting posture said something.

-Black Boots is the name the people hired by the febes to spy in our country cities are known as.-

-First of all, they don't "spy" for us. We only use some people to learn more about the outside world. Surely you would condone the need to know other community's culture to deal with them in a civil way.- told the female febe, with a cold tone full of scorn. The guards in the room fidgeted, annoyed. Things were getting ugly fast.

-And second.- a new voice started at their backs. All of them were startled, not having noticed anyone's presence there. – If we were to choose a group of spies, it would be stupid on our part to hire such a large group as them. They even have a kid. They were caught quite fast, didn't they? If they are spies, they are quite lame. We'll never use inexperienced people like them.

The third febe was another male, smaller than the first one, who was Snow-sized. He was closer to them so Lightning could appreciate that his face was covered by half a rigid mask and the other half, the one in the mouth, was made of fabric. Their clothes were reinforced by leather and a long coat obscured most of their figure.

They didn't have the chance to know Sleven's response because at that moment the underling who went to check their information returned.

-Sir, I've just confirmed with the refinery number 6 that they received a delivery of coal recently. The airship which brought it is with them and the pilot's description coincides with that man.- said pointing at Sazh.

-Thank you. Well, at least part of your information is right. Now…-with a swift movement he grabbed Serah's chin and forced her to rise her head to look into his eyes. Snow reacted and was going to charge against him but a small signal made by Alyssa had a couple of guards restricting him, and the rest pointing their weapons to the rest of them, daring them to move.- Better not to move, we don't want an unfortunate accident, right?- Lightning blood was boiling in anger and her hand was twitching to grab her weapon. Snow was in a similar state.- As I was saying, such a lovely face doesn't belong to the usual features of the remote villages. And I would have noticed you if you belonged to any of the other cities. So I'll ask again, where are you from?-

Serah, lovely and charming Serah, maintained his gaze bravely, without blinking. –Around.-

-Wrong answer.- smirked Sleven and forced Serah to come even closer to his body.

Snow was seeing red.

-Let her go, you bastard!- he roared, ignoring the tugging of the guards.

-I think not.- he was provoking Snow, and it was working. Even Lightning was having problems to contain herself from attacking. She could feel her magic boiling inside her, begging to be used to destroy her enemies. And then she felt a cold shiver of fear. If she was feeling that, surely Snow too. And if he failed to keep his control…

-Stop him!- she shouted, but it was too late.

Snow shined for a second before throwing the guards off his arms. He jumped and retrieved Serah as he throw a punch to Sleven, who avoided it expertly. For a moment everyone was still, until…

-Capture them!- ordered Sleven.

A battle, not different than the ones they used to have against Cocoon forces, started. The problem, they couldn't use their magic, so Vanille wasn't of much use. That left them with just four fighters, and Sazh couldn't fire freely due to the small space and the risk to hit an ally. That meant that only Snow, Fang and Lightning could fight without restrains. They were better and stronger, but the bellvedians were really coordinated and outnumbered them. If they wanted to escape this crisis they'll have no other choice to use their powers, and that'll mean more trouble in the long run.

A short shout in an unknown language was the only warning they had before some black blurs joined the fight. A new opponent was before Lightning, the third febe. They looked at each other, measuring the other posture, guard, weak points... She had to admit that it was hard to read anything from him so she attacked, confident in her agility.

It was a surprise when he blocked her attack without problems. She tried to kick him on the torso, but he stopped it and, spinning on his place, he throw a fast punch to her face. She avoided it and had to jump to gain some distance between. He was good. They exchanged punches, kicks and blocks, neither of them gaining the upper hand. Lightning was getting frustrated, it was as if he was able to predict all of her movements!

He shouted something she couldn't understand and suddenly a small figure started to attack her furiously. The female febe wasn't as elegant as her companion, but she was faster. It was troubling to kept blocking her attacks, but she was weaker than the male one and Lightning saw a weak point in her guard, so she attacked and was able to have her at her blade point.

-Stop!- a voice shouted.

Everyone stopped. Bellvedians guards adorned the floor of the room. None of the former l'cie seemed too hurt, but they saw something that froze them. The glistening blade of a knife around Dajh's neck had all of them paralyzed.

The smaller male febe had captured Dajh and was too far to any of them to try to rescue him.

-Dajh! Let him go, he's only a child.- Sazh begged.

-Then maybe it was better if you didn't bring him here. Now, drop your weapons and kick them far from yourselves.- ordered the febe. Sazh looked at all of them pleadingly. They had no other choice.

The clang of several weapons on the floor was the only sound in the room.

-Now, General, order your _oh so experienced_ soldiers to tie their hands. Don't worry, we'll accompany your men to the cells to make sure that the captured don't run away.-

Clearly insulted but unable to say anything, seeing that his men truly were the losers in this battle, Sleven obeyed. Soon, all of them were tied up and escorted to some cells were they were jailed.

They had a big problem.

* * *

 _A/n: So, how many of you thought for a moment that Alyssa's boss was Hope?_


	7. Chapter 6

**Sorry for the wait but it has been a busy week. In exchange, I'll upload a longer chapter. I hope that you like it.**

 _ **I only own my own words.**_

* * *

They had problems. Big problems, with a capital B. It was incredible how much they messed up all their plans, and now they were in this situation. Detained in a cell, by a general's order no less.

Lightning didn't know how they were going to fix this. She was pacing inside the small cell, although it was big enough for all of them. Thanks for small mercies.

Snow had his head bowed, feeling guilty. It was true that he was the one who lost his cool and put them in this mess but he was being provoked so clearly that Lightning didn't have the will to berate him for his idiocy. She had been close to explode too so she couldn't talk.

-Are you ok Dajh? I'm sorry I couldn't protect you better- said Sazh as he examined Dajh, looking for injuries on his neck, where the febe's knife touched him.

-I'm ok dad, don't worry. He didn't hurt me.- assured the boy.

-Thank goodness! I felt my heart stop when I saw that man grabbing you.- said Vanille, who was hugging Dajh. She discretely healed the whole group, careful of not being noticed by the guard.

They were lucky in that aspect. They were alone in the cells. Nobody was crazy enough to be a criminal under the capital's army watchful eyes. If you didn't count them, of course. There was only one guard and he was far enough so they could talk about anything without the fear of being heard. Sazh reassured them that in this world there wasn't any kind of camera vigilance system. It seemed that the technology hadn't developed as much as their original world in that aspect.

-I didn't feel fear.- proclaimed Dajh. –I never felt in any danger.-

-You're so brave!-

-Agh, we're in such a mess. We had the best chance to investigate and messed up.- Sazh rubbed his head in that characteristic way of him.- Geez, I guess that now our only option is to become fugitives again, isn't it? Poor Cokrane, he'll have problems to make trade deals from now on.-

-Yeah, is better if we scape at night. A few distractions with fire and explosions here and there and we could leave the city.- added Fang.- But I see two problems. One, where do we go from here? And two, what do we do if the febes are outside, waiting to ambush us? It hurts me to say this, but they were good. The guy I fought with was very agile for being so big. So unlike Snow, no offence.-

-None taken.-

-I don't think that the febes are going to be a problem for us.- said Serah, who was comforting Snow.- They only attacked when things were getting ugly.-

-Even so, they are a risk that we can't take.-said Lightning.-The guy I fought against was able to read all my movements. Is obvious that they are really skillful and had been trained by experts.-

-Why thank you.- a soft voice reached them.

They got startled and those who were seated got up quickly from the floor, on guard. There was a febe in front of their cell, the one who fought Lightning and took Dajh as a hostage. They were so distracted that they didn't notice his arrival. It didn't help that he was so damn stealthy. Another soft thud came from the place where the guard was. They could see a black figure behind the guard, leading his body to the floor, to avoid making much noise.

-We don't have much time.- warned a female voice. She was the one who neutralized the guard.

-On it.- the male febe searched in his pockets and took a piece of paper.-These are the directions to reach a safe place inside the Kabul forest. We'll meet you there in two days.-

Silence met his words. All of them were confused and didn't know how to react. Suddenly, his words registered and they started to talk at the same time.

-What?-

-The Kabul forest!? Are you crazy?-

-Are you asking us to go with _you_?-

-Why two days?-

The febe raised his hand, stopping them. The female one was getting impatient and she was checking constantly the state of the guard, so it was clear that she didn't kill him, only knocked him out.

-We don't have enough time to explain everything. Blackrock is keeping guard but we must return to our rooms before they start suspecting us. The guard will only feel a little dizzy after he wakes up so don't worry about him. He won't have any recollection of what happened in the last minutes. We'll leave in a couple of hours so most of the bellvedians attention will be focused on us. Use that moment to scape. On the paper are written the best ways to leave the city undetected.-

-Why should we trust you? We don't know you and you just attacked us and helped the soldiers arrest us.- accused Lightning.

-If we hadn't stopped you the soldiers would have annihilated you. They outnumber you by hundreds just in this building. And we are the only way you have to scape this place. Would you rather stay?-

-Night! We have to go!- said the other febe.-Give them the paper now!-

-In a moment. Here, take it. You had nothing to loss and all to gain from this.-

Vanille was the closer so she took the paper warily. –Why in two days? Shouldn't we travel together once we leave the city?-

-No. The bellvedians, General Selven in special, distrust us so they would keeping tabs on us until we reach the forest. In order to protect our people we can't show any link to you or your actions.-

-Enough!-the other febe came close to the cell and took his arm.- We've wasted enough time with them. The effect of the drug is going to disappear in less than a minute. If they don't want to come with us is their problem.- She started to push her companion before looking at them.- Your weapons are in the next room.-

-Wait! How do we leave the cell?-asked Snow.

They couldn't see the woman's face, but most of them were sure that they could feel the exasperation radiating from her.

-I'm sure that _you_ have the means. Here, an incentive.- she said, before throwing a small scabbard at them.

A groan alerted them that the guard was waking up and the next moment both febes had disappeared without making a sound.

-Well, we have to accept that they're truly good.- said Fang, after a moment of awkward silence.

-What should we do?- asked Vanille who was reading the note.

-I don't know. I want to leave here, but I don't know if trusting them is the correct choice.- explained Sazh

-Me neither. But I think that they're our safest option right now.- Lightning took the offered paper and read it.-This will help us. We could always scape from them if we don't like what we find when meeting them.-

-That's not going to be so easy. If the febes are good warriors, they're better hunters. And the forest is their territory. We don't know why they are so interested in helping us and that bothers me.- Sazh said, reading the note over Lightning shoulder. Dajh went to the place where the scabbard landed and inspected it.

-You're too silent. What do you think about this?-asked Lightning, giving the paper to Snow who hadn't said anything since the febe's arrival.

Snow studied the note and the annotations in it. He scratched his head. –We could try follow their lead for a while. Maybe we could learn why they are so interested in us. If there are problems we could fight with all we got. After all we'll be covered by the forest plants, right?-

-Hmm, I still don't understand why they're helping us. From what I could tell the female wasn't so thrilled to be here. And they're taking a huge risk for their people, isn't it? -

-Eh, sis. I think I have an idea of the reason.- added Serah, in a small voice. When everyone turned to look at her she merely pointed to a place. They followed her gaze and only saw Dajh, inspecting the small knife which was inside the scabbard.

It took Lightning a few seconds to register what she was seeing but once she did her heart skipped a beat. For the second time that day she lost her breath. But this time it wasn't an illusion. Not if everyone else was seeing it too.

In Dajh's hands there was a familiar knife. A knife which Serah gave to Lightning as a birthday present.

The same knife that she after lent to Hope.

* * *

-This is gross. So gross. Eww-

-Be silent out there!-

They were currently slithering through the city's sewer channels. It wasn't a pleasant experience. The tension, the narrow space, the humidity, the small animals which crossed their paths... And don't forget the smell. It was the perfect place for a vacation, really.

At least the escape plan was going fine. Just as the febe, Night, said, they met little to no resistance leaving their cell. They used the survival knife to break the lock. They could have melted it with fire magic but it was less suspicious this way. The guard was taken care of easily. As the febe woman pointed out their weapons were in the next room. Following the note's directions, they used the ventilation pathways to leave the building. The soldiers noticed their absence just a few seconds after they stepped outside. It seemed that they didn't think them to be able to leave unnoticed. The rest was easy. The moment they've found a sewer's entrance they managed to lose their pursuers. For the moment.

-Next turn to the right!- said Fang, who had the note. It was incredible how specific were the annotations. It was like having a map.

They kept walking a few minutes more before arriving to an exit with bars. This was the place designed for the residual water evacuation of the city. From where they were they could see a pond which lead to the start of a small stream.

-I guess this is the last obstacle for our freedom.- And then Fang proceeded to kick the bars and break them. Now there was enough space to pass.

All of them jumped and followed the little stream until they found the concealed pond the note talked about. It was located among very tall grass and bushes, far enough from the city to not be searched until a couple of days have passed. At least the water was clear enough to wash themselves. They decided to spend the night there and met the febes the day after tomorrow. It was obvious thanks to the knife that they were the ones who knew about Hope's whereabouts. They didn't have another option than to trust them.

The whole group were unable to rest. All of them wondering about their future. In special Lightning, who felt how close to her objective she was. With luck, in a matter of a few days they'll be reunited with Hope. And maybe then they'll be able to return home.

* * *

It was midday and a soft breeze caressed the innocent leaves, who danced slowly with it. A small and cute squirrel was approaching its favorite fruit. The fruit had such flashy colors and smelled so sweet that it was irresistible. The squirrel started to nibble it when a big leave squashed it. A couple of greenish tentacles took the small corpse and inserted it inside the "mouth" of the plant. Only the blood stains on the plant indicated what had just happened.

-Lovely-

Lightning couldn't help to comment as she watched the spectacle. This Kabul forest was a bizarre place. They've arrived a couple of hours ago and they learnt really fast to not touch anything. Everywhere they looked something was eating something! They were surrounded by predators. Luckily for them for now all of them were plants, but they had the feeling that the more they penetrate the forest the more dangerous it would be.

The note didn't say anything about a time to meet so they didn't have other choice than to wait for their guides. They talked about it in these two days and agreed that it was most likely that the febe will lead them to their home, the febe's, where it was possible that Hope was.

Suddenly, Lightning felt a presence close to them. Fang and Snow seemed to notice it too, because they started to search for it among the plants.

-Well, at least you are aware of your surroundings.- a deep voice greeted them. A tall figure followed it, and a couple of seconds after it, a pair of smaller ones. The febes were there.

-Look there, they've managed to escape and to reach this place with all of their limbs.- exclaimed the female one. It was clear that she didn't like them so it was even more confusing why they were so interested in helping them to find Hope.

The tallest made a sign with his hand and the woman quieted down. Lightning seized that moment to show them her survival knife.

-Do you know the previous owner, right?- she asked, but none of them answered or even moved.- Tell us! Do you know the boy who had it? He's like this – she said, indicating his height- with silver hair and yellow clothes. He's around fourteen and he's called Hope.- she was rambling, she knew it, but she was so close. They had the information she needed and it was so frustrating that they weren't talking.

Once again, the tallest took the initiative and started talking.

-We can't talk about our village or its people.-

-You can't or you won't-

-We aren't allowed. In order to protect ourselves we are unable to disclose any information about us.-

-There has to be a way! Hope is our friend and we can't just leave it if we find a hint of his location.- she exclaimed, waving the knife in front of them.

The febe who gave them the note came closer.

-We can't say anything about our village or the people who live there. But we can bring guests.- their faces would probably be telling how hopeful they were after hearing that, because he rushed to add more.- We can bring guests, but the permission to stay in our village depends on Feither.-

-Feither?- asked Vanille, who decided to join in the conversation now that it wasn't so tense.- Who's Feither?-

-Our leader. He's the village head and he'll decide what to do with you. We should move on. It's better if we reach the red clearing before nightfall.- said the woman who started walking ahead of them.

-You should follow her. I will be on the center of the group. Midnight, you will be in charge of the rear.- instructed the big guy.- From now on you are our responsibility until we reach the village. If you want to stay alive you must listen to us.-

-Sure! Thank you for helping us!- chirped Vanille.- My name's Vanille, and these are Fang, Sazh and his son Dajh, Snow, Serah and Lightning. Nice to meet you!-

-You're way to excited to be in such a dangerous place. You're aware of the fame of this forest, are you not?-

-Yes, but you are protecting us, right? And you're experts of this place.-

-Be quiet girl. We don't want to get noticed by the beasts of the forest.- chided the girl at the front.

That silenced Vanille, who pouted. Fang nudged her kindly to appease her. They kept walking for a few hours, avoiding dangerous zones and a diversity of wild life. Ironically enough most of them were plants. The girl at the front didn't make easy for them, navigating the forest at a fast pace. If they were normal people they would have lost her a long time ago.

The forest was beautiful, with enormous plants which created a weird kind of natural labyrinth. A lot of times they were forced to take a detour in order to avoid a seemingly innocent area. But if the febes wanted to avoid a place it was better to do it. They were the one who knew the place so…

A whistle from behind alerted them of a danger. The three febes drew their weapons, a sword with two curved blades, one longer and thinner than the other, that looked a little like a crab claw. They directed them silently to some bluish bushes which were near. All of them crouched and waited. For a moment nothing happened. Snow started to open his mouth to ask but the one called Midnight covered it with his free hand, still looking at the forest. Lightning noticed that none of the febes lowered their weapons even if nothing was happening.

Suddenly, three small animals appeared from the foliage, running at great speed. The weird thing was that the febes only got tenser once the animals passed. The grip on their weapons tightened. A soft sliding sound reached their ears and that was the only warning they had before a gigantic lizard showed its face. It had a reddish color, and three pairs of eyes, that looked everywhere independently of the others. It had long fangs and discolored claws. It seemed to be searching for its prey, sniffing the air.

The beast looked their way and started to approach the place where they were hiding. Lightning and the others could felt sweat forming on their foreheads, and their hands getting clammy. The beating of their hearts was loud in their ears. It was the first time in a long time in which she felt that kind of fear. The fear of being prey instead of predator. She was always confident in her skills, but this was an unknown creature, dangerous enough that the experts were wary of it, and this time she didn't have the full potency of her l'cie powers to back her up and had to protect at the same time both Serah and Dajh. Unlike before, now they had in their group people who can't defend themselves.

The beast was getting closer when Midnight took something from his bag, lowered the cloth that covered his mouth and blew. A glittering dust covered them. The effect was instantaneous. The gigantic lizard started to sneeze and to rub its nose in the ground. Its erratic and spastic movements indicated that it was in pain. As suddenly as it appeared it fled from where they were.

The forest was calm once again so they left their hiding place.

-Dude, if you had a beast repellent why didn't you used it before?-asked Snow, whose knees were still trembling a little, even if he didn't want to acknowledge it.

-Because he shouldn't be so stupid. What were you thinking using the biting dust?- nagged the woman, who whacked him on his head. Midnight, on his part, just kept his hand on his mouth. Now that he had lowered the cloth from his mouth they could see a little of his pale skin.- Did the dust touched any of you?- asked the girl. All of them moved their heads in negative.- Of course not. Blackrock, I'm taking this idiot to the closest water stream. You lead them to the red clearing, it's close so you shouldn't find any problem. Don't worry about wood or food, we'll bring it.-

Both of them disappeared quickly.

-What's the problem? What happened?-

Blackrock just looked at them before he started to walk again.

-Come on, we need to reach the red clearing. Is too dangerous to stay still in the same place.- seeing that they didn't react he added.-I'll explain as much as I can once we are in a safe place.

With no other option, they followed Blackrock in an awkward silence until they arrived to a small clearing full of red flowers and brownish grass. It made honor of its name.

Blackrock sat down and they followed his example, staring at him expectantly. He remained silent.

-Aren't you going to start explaining what happened?- asked Sazh.

-I'm not the one who wants to talk. If you want to know something ask, and I'll answer if I think I should do it.-

Wow, another one who made honor if his name. A rock, huh?

-Ok, first of all, what was that biting dust and why was the febe woman so alarmed?-

-The biting dust is a powder incredibly irritating. We used it to repel beast that have sensitive noses.-

-Then, what was the problem?-

-We normally throw it to our enemies, not blow it because it's impossible to avoid inhaling some of it. I guess that Midnight is suffering right now due to his reckless behavior.-

So that was why the woman was so annoyed. His companion hurt himself trying to protect them, and seeing how much she liked their company…

-Why are you covered from head to toe?- asked Dajh. All of them were curious, but none of them dared to ask.

Blackrock stayed in silence for a while. They didn't know if he wasn't going to answer of he was just thinking about how to respond.

-I guess I can tell you about it. After all once we arrive to the village you'll receive the cleanse.- started Blackrock. They didn't know if they liked how _cleanse_ sounded, but they'll ask afterwards.- Phartonn is the name of our village. We've stayed isolated from the rest of the world for years, centuries, millenniums… it doesn't matter. When our predecessors started to interact with people from the "outside" the problems started. Our people suffered from unknown diseases and started to die. We learnt that, due to our isolation, we were vulnerable to the outsider's usual sickness. In order to avoid it, every time that an explorer leaves the forest, we cover ourselves. Explorer's clothes are specially made to be resistant and impermeable. Any spore, parasite or other illness's vector will be attached to our clothes instead of our bodies. Once we reach the village, we'll be cleansed, in other words, we'll be cleaned of any dirt we could bring to the village. And all of you too.-

-We too!?-

-Of course. If you want to come in contact with the villagers you'll need to be cleaned. You're currently a risk to our people and you'll do everything we ask of you if you want to see your "lost friend" again.- said Blackrock, with his deep and monotonous voice.

-So it's true that Hope is in the febe's village!- exclaimed Lightning. Blackrock didn't react nor elaborated more, but she didn't mind. He gave enough information to hope for the best once they arrived at the village.

-Don't call us febe. That's the way the outsiders call us and we don't like outsiders.- said the female febe, or whatever they want to be called. Both Midnight and she returned with wood and some fruits as big as a pig, the first once again covered completely.

-What should we call you then?-

-We're explorers. Our black clothes said as much and is a honor to wear them.- she explained pompously.

-But you can call us Blackrock, Midnight and Shion. It's better than "explorer one, two and three"- said Midnight with humor.

-But what are you called? All of you, I mean. I don't think the whole lot of the villagers are called explorers, right?- insisted Vanille. Now that they were talking they have to take the chance.

-Only a few of us are skilled enough to be explorers.-answered Shion with fervor.- All of us have a name, use it. But if you're asking about how the people who live inside the forest are called, then the name is phartenni.-

-Phartenni? Then there's no relation with the name of the forest. And why are you called febe then?-

-We aren't the most suitable to tell you about this. Feither will be able to answer those kind of questions. He or Kal are the ones who know the best about our history and origins. Although I can tell where the word febe comes from. A long time ago, some outsider idiot who was given the honor of meeting the Feither of that era thought that "feither" was how we were called. They didn't only mistook a name from a title, but they mispronounced it so the name that the head of the village receives became the distorted name that the outsiders use to design us.-

-Why don't you correct them?-

-Please. It's a constant reminder of their idiocy and less than satisfactory knowledge of us. Letting them call us febe is our own way to mock them.-

-How rude. How do they feel when they learn that you've been making a fool of them all that time?-

-That's the thing, cutie. Nobody ask. They don't care. You are the first to ask about it in a decade.-

That was surprising. The febe, not, the phartenni are considered the most dangerous warriors of this world, and with reason, yet nobody made the effort to know them? Why not? Wouldn't that help in the development of the relationship between the different cities and cultures? It was so weird… Maybe once they met the Feither he'll be able to answer those questions. And how the hell did "feither" changed into "febe"? They didn't sound alike at all!

-It's better if we eat and then sleep. If we want to reach Phartonn tomorrow we need to travel faster.- said Midnight, who spent all the time that Shion was talking in preparing the fruits they brought for dinner.

-Do we need to take turns to keep watch?- asked Snow while he ate. The fruit was really tasty, so tender and sweet. It was the first time that they had tasted that kind of flavor in a mere fruit.

-It won't be necessary. This is the safest place inside the forest. Do you see those red flowers that are all around us? They are poisonous to most of the animals here so they tend to avoid these clearings. They'll be dangerous for us humans too if we stay too much time here, but just a night is fine. When we reach the village tomorrow you'll be cleansed so there'll be no remains of the flowers pollen on your clothes. Don't worry.-

No wonder that only phartenni survived in this forest. Everything was a dead trap and, unless you know the area, everything here can kill you in a way or another.

Knowing that they were safe from wild beasts' attacks because they were resting in a mortal field, they went to sleep. Or tried to.

The next morning they were up before the sun had completely risen. This time they travelled faster, following all the indications the phartenni told them. It was obvious that they wanted to arrive to the village and were in a hurry. How long has been since they left? Maybe weeks, or even months. They couldn't fault them for being anxious to return home.

If Lightning was honest, she was anxious too. Phartonn had the clues of Hope's whereabouts. With luck, Hope will be there, waiting for them.

A couple of hours after they stopped to eat lunch they reached a beautiful valley. Among all of that dangerous and gigantic flora, a picturesque landscape was hidden from view. A lot of small streams merged with the clear water from cascades that surged from within the walls of the valley, made of rock and vegetation. Below them they could see parts of the current of the river, with some houses built alongside it. The height of the trees concealed the real size of the village, so they couldn't measure it.

-Come on, we're almost there!- exclaimed Shion, whose tone of voice was the happier they've heard from her.

Lightning and company couldn't avoid feeling nervous. They were in the middle of a death trap, also called forest, and their lives relied on the desire of some suspicious people to help them. The odds weren't really with them, but it was a necessity if they wanted their group to be whole once again.

-Don't worry, everything will be fine.- assured them Midnight. They were lucky to have him in the group of phartenii who found them. He have been very helpful all this time, or as helpful as one of them could be. They started to follow the other two and descended from where they were to reach the ground where the village was. As always, Midnight was the last one.- I have your back.- he said to Lightning before she started to walk.

Something in her stirred. It was as if it was something that she had forgotten and was trying to remember but was unable to. Why she had been filled so suddenly by a nostalgic feeling?

She was still a little confused when they finally saw the entrance of the village. Tall wooden walls met them. A group of phartenni was waiting for them, but this time they wore white clothes. Actually, they didn't look much different than the kids who dressed themselves as ghosts.

-They are the cleansers.- explained Midnight who saluted them with a weird movement of his hand and a nod. The cleansers saluted back.

-We've been waiting eagerly for your arrival.- one of them said. It was a woman's voice.- The rest will be so happy to know that all of you are uninjured. Because none of you have and injury, right?-

-Midnight inhaled biting dust!- informed happily Shion

-Shion! You traitor!- exclaimed Midnight. It was interesting to see them so relaxed in comparison of how they were behaving just a minutes before.

-Don't worry, we'll be especially persistent in you cleansing, Midnight.- a shudder travelled his body.-And who could they be?.- asked the woman, who was now looking at Lightning's group.

Shion started to talk to them in a strange dialect. They couldn't understand anything of the conversation that was happening before them.

-Don't worry, she's only informing her of the reason of your presence here. Usually guests were brought to the village by the Feither's orders, not the other way around, so he needs to be alerted of you and your circumstances. You'll be cleansed first, because nobody can enter the village without that process. Then you'll meet the Feither and you'll have your chance to explain yourselves. Be as respectful as you can and do everything that they say and you won't have a problem.- assured them Midnight. Both Shion and Blackrock had already disappeared with some cleansers. Another group was waiting for them.

-You won't come with us?- asked Serah. If they thought about the way the phartenni reacted to them, only one out of three was kind to them. What if the next one was like Shion, so clearly hostile?

-I'll meet with you as soon as possible. Don't worry, nobody here is your enemy. At the moment.- and with those words, he too left.

A group of cleansers led them to some kind of big tents, separating them by gender. Before entering the tent, Fang grabbed Lightning's arm.

-Fang, what's..?-

-Look there!- she exclaimed, pointing to the far distance.

All the girls looked in that direction. Between the foliage, at the distance, there was a small lake with glittering water. But no, Fang wouldn't alerted them of something as trivial as that. Lightning focused her gaze on the shining lights that rose from the water surface. They weren't floating lights but the reflection of the light on small columns of crystal.

A very familiar type of crystal.


	8. Chapter 7

_I only own my own words_

* * *

" _There'll be a time when you will have to choose"_

 _._

 _._

" _Will you be erased? Will you change?"_

 _._

 _._

" _Will you leave?"_

.

.

* * *

Her skin hurt. After they took all their clothes off they started to scrub all their dead cells. She could feel herself peeling like a potato!

They've been submerged in three different kind of pools of water, each one clearer than the one before.

Some cleansers took care of their hair while others rubbed their bodies. After being dried off, they've applied some kind of cream on their extremities and faces. Before leaving, they drank a spicy herbal tea.

The cleansers gave them yellow baggy shirts and white pants and informed them of a determined place where they had to go when the need of alleviate themselves came up for the next week.

They were quite thorough with their job.

They left the tent on time to see the men exiting another one. They too had bright yellow and white clothes. Snow's skin was a little red and had all his hair puffed like a chicken so he was trying to straight it.

-I've never felt so violated in my live!- exclaimed the blond

-I feel lighter somehow- joked Sazh

-What should we do now?- asked Vanille.- We don't know where to go…-

-I'm sorry for not arriving before.- said a melodic and soft voice. A young girl met them. She was really pretty, with long straight hair with a metallic hue and kind green eyes. She wore a long lilac tunic. She was the first phartenni who they saw without anything covering their face and she was beautiful. If all of them looked like that… - My name is Yeul and I'll be the one accompanying you to meet the Feither. Follow me, please.-

They did as told and had the chance to look calmly at the village. All the houses were integrated with the landscape, either being tents or being wood houses among the big trunks of the tall trees scattered in the valley. As they continued walking they started to see more people. There were an interesting diversity among them: dark skin, pale skin, all kind of hair colors and styles. The most noticeable thing was the clothes. It seemed that they dressed with the same colors by groups. All the children wore brown shirts, for example, but the adults could be seen in small groups with the same color of shirt.

Another thing in common was that all of them were looking at them, with different grades of mistrust and curiosity.

The ones with the fiercest stare were the ones in deep blood red shirts, who also had weapons on sight. Maybe they were the guardians of the village?

-Here we are- said Yeul. They stopped in front of a big tent, which entrance was guarded by the deep red colored ones. They could hear a lot of voices coming from inside it, but they were unable to understand it.- Don't expect the phartenni to talk in your language. All the important decisions that affect the village are made in our language, as it should be.-

-How are we going to communicate with your leader then?-

-I'll be your translator-

-But we don´t know if you're going to translate exactly what we say.-

Yeul gave them a severe stare.- If you expect us to trust you the least you can do is to trust us back. If you rather enter it alone and defend yourselves in neutro, please do it. But we won't give you the same courtesy. Why should we adapt ourselves to you? Aren't you the ones who desire something from us?-

They looked at each other, chastised. The girl was right after all.

-I'm sorry. You're already doing us a favor just with letting us meet the Feither. It was rude from our part to doubt you in this way.-

Yeul nodded and entered the tent, silently telling them to come after her. Once they did it they saw a lot of people already there. The villagers were seated on the floor, in different semicircular rows. In the center of the tent there was an old man, with long white hair, and deep purple clothes, adorned with necklaces made of several materials. He was talking softly with a woman in white and a young man in deep red. Yeul came closer to them and saluted the old man in the same way they saw Midnight do it when they first arrived to the village: a little bow with the head and a gesture with her left hand.

She started to talk with him and then the Feither, because he couldn't be anyone else, got their attention and made a gesture indicating that they could come closer.

-Feither has accepted to hear you.- explained Yeul.- You should sit down here and only look at him. The rest of the people surrounding you aren't important in this matter so you shouldn't let your gaze waver.-

After explaining that, Yeul sat down between them and the Feither. Both groups were sat face to face and measured each other silently for a few seconds. They were unsure if it was polite to start talking or if they had to wait until the Feither talked to them, so they kept silent but, as time passed, it was obvious that nobody was going to start talking. Not even the people at their backs were making a sound.

Lightning caught Yeul's gaze in a questioning manner, and the girl nodded her head. Then, Lightning took Hope's knife and put it in front of her. Curiously, it was the only thing that the cleansers let her keep, after cleaning it of course. The Feither looked at it but made no move nor any other acknowledgement of its presence.

-This survival knife was a present from my sister. I lent it to a friend of mine.- she started talking and, at the same time, Yeul started to speak and hopefully translate her words literally.- We're currently searching for him and the fact that one of the phartenni had it shows that Hope might be here.-

The Feither merely looked at her while she was talking but when she stopped he studied all of them, taking notice of their postures and behavior. He talked then, with a strong voice for someone so old. Yeul translated his words.

-"The phartenni are part of a big family. All of the villagers are my sons and daughters and I watch over them everyday. If what you claim is true, then that means that you want information of one of my children. Why should I put him in danger for an outsider like you?"-

-We aren't a danger for Hope. If you let us meet him he can vouch for us.-

-"And how do I know what are your real intentions? How do I know that this is not a trap to lure him out?"-

-Please, let me see him. I need to know that he is alright. I..- for a moment, Lightning's voice faltered. She wasn't comfortable talking using that kind of tone, almost begging. She was a prideful woman, a warrior, and she wasn't used to lowering her head. But, this was for Hope. It was her responsibility as her partner to care for his wellbeing. If leaving her pride aside will give them Hope back, then she won't hesitate anymore.- He's my partner. You say that he is like a son, but for me he is my brother of arms. We fought together. We bled together. We grew as warriors, becoming stronger together. I have his back and he has mine. Due to circumstances I couldn't control we got separated. I lost him and is an awful feeling not knowing. So please, if Hope's here, if he's fine, please let us meet.-

She felt the others stare on her. She knew that they were surprised by her passionate proclamation, so unlike her usual self. But she didn't mind. Even the low murmur at her back didn't interfere with the attention she was giving to the head of the village. He was the only one who mattered, the only one she _had_ to convince.

-"Such heartfelt words, young lady".-stated Feither, still unmoving.-"The one you call Hope is truly a special boy, so it's not so weird to see such dedication if it comes from his sister in battles. Let me ask you one last thing then: are you as special as him?"-

At first she didn't understand what he meant. For the confused faces the others were making, neither did them. Suddenly, Vanille made a surprised exclamation and showed her hands to the Feither. A small flame started to form, and it was getting bigger until it had the same size as a fist.

Excited murmurs exploded from the audience, but none of them inspired a feeling of fear.

And then it clicked. Hope was awake, the way in which the discussion that they were having was going indicated as much, and it was likely that he still had some powers. He was the best at "light" magic, after all. From what Sazh said so many days ago, and the current relationship between the bellvedians and the phartenni, it wasn't so strange that the last ones wanted to hide Hope's existence. They were protecting him!

She then looked at the Feither and created a small electric ball in her hand. A smile drew itself on his face. The noise that his hand made when it collided with the ground startled most of the people present. Abruptly, he started to laugh.

-"No wonder you are his companions! What an interesting people you have in your world!"-

It was quite bizarre to hear him talking while laughing and hear at the same time the translation that Yeul was making in a monotone voice, although they could detect a hint of amusement now.

-"I guess that that is proof enough of your identity. No bellvedian has managed to create magic from anything, although it's not for lack of trying. What are your names?"-

-My name's Lightning, these are Vanille, Fang, Sazh, Dajh, Snow and Serah.-

-"Lightning? No wonder he didn't want a light related clan name".- the last was murmured, but Yeul translated it either way.-"Lightning, I, Feither of Phartonn, cordially allow you and your companions to stay in our village until your goals are fulfilled. Now, as it is customary when our village have guests, I'll appoint the warden responsible of all of you".-

At that moment, the man in red got his attention and started to talk with him. Yeul didn't translate their conversation, out of respect of their privacy they guessed.

-Yeul, what does he mean with a "warden" responsible of us?- Serah asked her.

-When we accept guests in our home, there's always one of us who will be responsible of their actions. That person is called the warden and the trust that the warden has on the guests is the trust that is expected from the villagers. In others words, if your warden deems you trustworthy, the rest of the village will accept you as well.-

-Wow, that's a lot of responsibility for only one person to bear. They must be a great judge of character.-

-They have to be for their own good.-

-What do you mean?-

-If a guest under the warden's care does something hurtful to the village, not only the guest will be cast out or killed, depending of the damage, but the warden will also pay the price for their mistake in trusting them and endangering us.-

-What's the price?-

-It depends on the grade of trust they have on the guest. When they accept the responsibility as a warden, they choose a place of their body where a red lace will be tied. The price is to cut the lace off, and the part of the body attached with it. If the warden don't trust the guest, they'll choose a small finger, for example. If they really trust them, they'll choose an arm or a leg. Is simple. The rest of the villagers will see the mark of trust and react to the guest accordingly. A grey lace will be tied on the same place as the warden on the guest so, even if they are separated, all of us can know the price of the betrayal.-

Nobody can say that the phartenni didn't take their safety seriously. Those were really extreme measures to avoid danger.

-What happens if no one wants to be a warden?-

-Then, even if you're allowed to stay by the Feither, you'll be unable to actually stay here. If nobody vouch for you, you won't step inside our village.- she seemed pleased by that.

That was worrisome. It would be a huge letdown if, after having come so far, nobody vouched for them. Taking their behavior on account, if most of the villagers were like Yeul and Shion they'll have problems at being accepted.

-"We'll be waiting for a few minutes so why don't tell us what all of you are capable of doing?"- asked the Feither, after he ended his conversation with the one in red.

-What about the choosing of our warden?-

-"Don't worry about that. Hunter has informed me that M-Midnight asked to be your warden. He'll be here once the cleansers finish with him."- translated Yeul, who stuttered when she said Midnight's name and straightened her posture. Some weird tension could be felt in all the people inside the tent except the Feither, who seemed pleased with himself.

For their part, all the former l'cie felt relief after hearing that there was someone willing to help them.

Knowing for sure that they'll be able to stay and meet with Hope again, relaxed them. It was weird that Hope wasn't in this tent with them, but maybe he wasn't allowed to. It wouldn't be surprising seeing how the phartenni dealt with outsiders.

-What do you want to know?- asked Vanille

-"What are your powers? All of you are capable of invoking the elements?"-

As Vanille explained, without delving in too many details, about their skills, a phartenni brought a red cord and some grey ones.

A male voice interrupted Vanille and, after seeing who he was, the Feither made him a signal to come forward. The young male passed them and kneeled before the Feither, with his head bowed and his back on them. Both the new arrival and the old chief talked among themselves but what was more interesting were the gestures that Yeul was making while listening to them.

She noticed their confused gazes on her, so she started to explain what was happening but without making a literal translation like before, just a summary.

-Midnight and the Feither are doing the usual requirements to appoint Midnight as your warden. Once the Feither finish telling him all the rules of that position, he'll proceed to tie the lace around a part of his body. We'll see how worthy you are on his eyes.-

So that was Midninght without all those black clothes covering him. He seemed younger and thinner now with a black shirt and light green pants. The phartenni who had the cords approached him and offered the red cord. Midnight straightened his back and took the lace, contemplating it for a few seconds. He had straight soft looking greyish hair.

A lot of gasps, some of them horrified, resounded through the tent when Midnight started to tie the lace around his neck. The Feither, in a fast movement improper of his age, stopped his hand and asked something in a low and serious tone. Yeul also had a horrified face, with a hand covering her slight gaping mouth.

In a firm tone, Midnight answered, finishing the knot.

-Their fate is my fate. If they must die so I will-

All people were left speechless, even them who could understand his words due to his use of the neutro language.

Lightning didn't understand. Why would he risk his own life for a group of strangers? What did he gain doing that? It wasn't logical. There wasn't a logical explanation for that course of action.

They weren't important enough for him, so why? And what was that about the same fate? They've met just a few days ago! If it was Hope she could understand it.

If it was Hope…

-Hope.- a whisper escaped from her lips

The young man, _man!_ , turned and for the first time they could see his face.

There was no baby fat, no rounded cheeks and no too big eyes for a small feminine face… But there was no doubt, it was impossible to mistake that smiling mouth, those bright stormy eyes and that pale skin for anyone else's.

-It's been a while, Light.-


	9. Chapter 8

_I only own my own words_

* * *

-It's been a while, Light.-

When such words left his mouth, for a moment, the rest of the world lost its axis from Lightning's perspective. The people surrounding them disappeared out of range of her perception, her gaze focused only in the man before her. Because it was a man, and not the boy she was hoping for.

He was dressed in a black shirt with light green pants. There were stripes of different colors on his shirt. His hair was still in a silver-like hue, but it was longer and straighter. His hairstyle no longer resembled a chicken. Some beads adorned one or two locks of his hair.

"A while" he had said.

For her, it has really been a while. A little more than a month and she was going crazy with worry for the lack of presence of her lost companion. Looking at him now she thought of how selfish she has been, only thinking about how she was feeling.

When she first saw Dajh, she feared it. What if Hope has been awake, alone, for years? How naive of her to think that this time Hope will be lucky. He was the one who suffered the most with the fal'cie situation last time, losing his mother and not knowing his father's fate after leaving his home, trying to protect his last relative. With only fourteen years at the time and already losing the life he'd known all his short life, consumed by rage and a desire of revenge and without enough time to properly mourn his mother. And only for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

And now… Now her Hope was older. How many years has he been left alone in an unknown world?

Sazh and Dajh were the ones who woke up first among their group and it was four years ago. Hope didn't look like an eighteen year old. He was older, maybe even older that she was.

It didn't matter that the phartenni had helped him, and she was grateful for that, no doubt about it.

But she was anxious. Was he even the Hope she knew still? The image she had about his partner was too different to the current image she was seeing. What if he had changed so much that he was like a stranger? What if enough time had passed that he no longer cared the same way about the memories of the adventures they all shared?

What if he didn't need her anymore?

-Hope!- Vanille's startling voice woke her from her reverie.

The next thing she saw was an orange and yellow projectile colliding with Hope. Surprisingly, the force of the collision didn't make him fall although he stumbled a little from his kneeling position. He happily returned the suffocating hug which Vanille was using as attack for all that it looked like from an outsider's perspective. She was positive that Hope was unable to breath with his face forced to rest on Vanille's chest.

-Vanille, be thankful that you're so flat or you'll be suffocating the kid.- interjected Fang, amused. She took Vanille from Hope's arms and helped him stand.- Although maybe I should stop calling you a kid, eh? What had you been eating?- she teased him when he stood and she could compare their heights. Hope was now the tallest among the former l'cie, after Snow obviously.

Talking about the blonde, he was now trying to destroy Hope's back with the slaps he was giving him. Sazh nudged him and Serah hugged him lightly. There was only her left.

But what can she do? She didn't have the right to hug him tightly like Vanille, nor she thought that a mere push or a shaking of hands suit them, or their relationship. But she was the one who let him go, the one unable to protect him and who provoked his loneliness. How can she expect his forgiveness so easily? Act as if nothing happened?

The decision was taken from her hands once again when she felt strong arms around her. The hug was tight but not enough to felt uncomfortable. She didn't know what to do with her hands and didn't miss the irony of the first hug she gave Hope and how the roles had reversed. It was really warm and when she felt his chin resting on her shoulder an alien feeling of calmness invaded her. She hadn't noticed until that moment, but a hole she didn't know about on her chest filled up once she felt the proximity of Hope's warmth.

-I've missed you, Light.-

-You're taller.- how clever of her, really. It was too late to pray for a hole on the floor to swallow her?

But Hope started to laugh and then everything was right where it belonged once again.

The deep voice of the Feither reminded her of their audience and she hastily untangled herself from Hope. Before recomposing, she noticed the sour grimace on Yeul's face before it disappeared from her young face as if it was never there. She didn't know why but she was starting to think that the girl's dislike for them had little to do with them being a group of outsiders and too much with Hope.

Hope finished talking with the villager's leader and, with a bow of his head, he took the rest of the cords and led them outside of the tent.

-Stay still while I tie this on you-

-Are you sure that it's wise to risk your neck for us? Literally, I mean.- asked Sazh, when Hope started to tie the grey cord around his neck.

-Why? Are you planning to attack the village?- joked Hope.- This is the fastest way for you to be accepted by the villagers. Is a way to show them that you're trustworthy. If I chose a finger you'll be unable to roam freely around the place, for example. This way there won't be that kind of restrictions and you'll be able to interact with everyone, even the children. Which reminds me, sorry Dajh, for what I did to you in Bellved.-

-It's okay. I wasn't scared.- answered happily the kid as he tied the cord by himself, with a little of difficulty.

-Why did you do that? Even more, why didn't you identify yourself when you met us?- asked Lightning.

-At first I didn't want to get involved as we were there as Phartonn representatives and I couldn't act on my own without affecting our current truce. My heart actually stopped when I saw all of you, being escorted inside Selven's office no less. Snow started to lose control due to Selven's provocations and probably would have ended using magic. I wanted to avoid that so I used the fastest way to stop that situation. Shion wasn't happy with me and the scape plan we had to improvise. The next couple of days I was so anxious and unsettled that Blackrock had to stop me from going to check on you a few times. But it was necessary to keep the distance for the village's sake. When we met again I couldn't say anything about who I was because I'm technically part of the phartenni and we can't give information about ourselves without the Feither's consent. Believe me when I say that those days were the hardest for me, having all of you so close and being unable to show or tell you how much I missed you.-

-Oooh, Hope, we missed you as well.- said Vanille, who once again hugged him.- We're so glad that you're alright. Specially Lightning, who couldn't stay still without knowing where you are.-

Lightning adverted her gaze. She could felt her face starting to get warm but she controlled it before she shamed herself by doing something as stupid as blushing.

-So, Hope, for how long do we have to wear this? And why they call you Midnight, by the way?- asked Fang, fingering with distaste her new "necklace".

They started to roam around the village, Hope indicating some place or another. He was guiding them to the most important places, like the entrance, the shortest way to the leader's tent, the healer's tent, the warehouse, etc. The whole village was a mix between tents and wooden houses. All people waved and saluted Hope, but no one came closer to them. Maybe they were respecting their privacy, or maybe they just feared them.

-When a guest stays for a long time, usually the warden's lace is taken off once all the clan leaders, or the great majority of the biggest clans' ones, accept their presence in the village and deem them harmless to it. The guests tend to leave the village before that but, this time it'll be one of those circumstances. And the name thing? When you reach adulthood is customary to take a new name or a variation of your name which indicates a quality, skill or job related theme. Some of them are a clan's tradition, like being called after flowers, stars, animals or whatever identifies the clan's characteristics, My full phartenni's name is actually Midnight's Hope.-

-Midnight's Hope!? Really?-

-There were worse options. Yeul wanted me to be called Moonlight Shine, because she thought it was cute, and another friend always call me Crystal when he wants to annoy me. Thank goodness that you choose your own name or I'll have a ridiculous feminine name.-

-Yes, because Hope radiates so much masculinity.- joked Snow

-Being called after a flower-like crystal made of ice is manlier, no doubt. I could have erased the "Hope" part when I chose a new name but that'd always been my name. I had the feeling that discarding it would be like cutting off all the links to my past and I didn't want it. My past helped me grown in my current self. Also, it was the name my mother chose for me and I wanted to have something to always remember her.-

That sobered Snow rather quick. Although Hope had already forgiven him he still felt guilty about his role in Nora's demise.

-Hope, listen, I'm sor…-

-Don't worry about it, Snow. That happened a long time ago.-

-How long exactly?- that was what Lightning wanted to know the most. For how long has he been awake?- How many passed for you since the last time we were together?-

Hope kept silent for a moment, probably knowing that she won't be thrilled by his answer. At least that proved that he was still in tune with her. He guided them to the lake they saw when they were going to enter the cleansers tent. It wasn't a very large but very beautiful lake, surrounded by vegetation and with small crystals dispersed in its crystalline water, which looked so clean and clear that seemed a mirror.

-It's been thirteen years since I landed right here, as a crystal, in the middle of the night. I gave the villagers a big scare that night.- he chuckled softly.- Three years after that, I stopped being a crystal. I joined the explorers because they are the only ones allowed to leave the village and it was necessary for me to do so if a wanted to find any of you myself.-

Three years after landing. That meant that Hope had been awake for ten years! He was fourteen before, so now he was twenty four. Twenty four years old. That made him the third or fourth oldest member of the former l'cie group, withput taking in consideration the 5 centuries both Fang and Vanille slept as crystals before.

That also meant that he was the first to land and the first one to wake up.

-How curious. You woke up the same year we arrived, maybe that influenced your awakening?- said Vanille, who was investigating the l'cie crystals in the water. Usually they dissolved when the l'cie woke up, so it was weird to see them.

-I don't think that that's true, Vanille.- refuted Fang.- If the awakening of one of us provoked the arrival of another, our timings would have been different. We arrived ten years ago, but didn't woke up until three years ago. Sazh and Dajh arrived after us but woke up before. We couldn't relate it to the order in which we disappeared inside the light's pillar either. Even the time between our arrivals are different.-

-So everything was completely arbitrary?-

-Maybe it was the plan of the Goddess that brought us here but we don't see its logic, if it has one?-

-You know about the Goddess, Hope?-

-Hmm, more or less. I think that I heard her voice while I was crystallized.-

-Were you conscious while you were a crystal?-

They didn't have the chance to hear his answer because at that moment a figure lunged at his back.

-You're back! It took you so long this time that I was starting to think that you'll never return. Are you fine? Did you get hurt? Did you kick those stuck-up bastards for me?-

A young male had climbed on Hope's back and was attacking him with one question after another, without giving him any time to answer any of them. But it didn't seem to matter to the new guy, who was still talking. He was as tall as Hope, with shoulder length brown hair and deep blue eyes. His clothes were in a dark grey color with blue stripes. He was really cheerful, and the most interesting thing was that he was talking in neutro, when the rest of the villagers preferred to use their own language in front of them.

-Noel, you should behave when there are guests present.- a deep voice reprimanded the now identified young male. An older man approached them. He was really tall, with long dark purple hair, and dark grey and purple clothes, a tone lighter than the one the Feither's ones. He had an imposing presence that commanded respect. Both of them looked briefly to Hope's neck, where the red lace rested and their bodies tensed for a second before relaxing once again.

-Don't be such a killjoy Caius. It's been a while since Night left for his latest mission. And it seems that this time he was successful. You found the rest of your former group!-

Somehow the "former" part hurt Lightning. She was sure that there was no malice in his words, but nonetheless they exposed a truth that she was trying to ignore. As much as she insisted in her mind that they were each other's partner, that didn't erase the fact that in the last ten years they've been the ones who were with Hope. Even worse, what were a mere thirteen days, no matter how live-changing, in comparison of ten whole years? It wouldn't be so strange if that boy was Hope's new partner, replacing her role. Where did that leave her?

-I wouldn't say that I found them, but at least we were reunited. When did you come back?-

-We've just arrived to the village when they told us about your return and the new guests. Hello! My name is Noel Kreiss, and is a pleasure to meet all of you-

Noel offered his hand and everyone shook it. If Lightning did it stronger that it should be was nobody's business. The other man made no indication to want to introduce himself so Hope did it for him.

-He is Caius Ballad. Both Noel and Caius are hunters.-

-Yes, so you should be really grateful to us when you eat dinner this night.- joked good-naturedly Noel. He was so cheerful that it was hard not to like him. He was like a calmer version of Vanille.

As if the talking about dinner was heard by their stomachs, some of them roared. That made Noel laugh, and the former l'cie to feel really awkward in front of the phartenni.

-It seems that you're in a hurry to show your gratitude after all!. It won't be long before the food is ready. Seeing that the explorers returned, today we'll be probably eating at the square, right Caius?-

-I guess so. It's tradition to welcome our brave siblings and show our happiness to their safe and sound return with a feast.-

-I love feasts. They're a great chance to exchange stories and anecdotes. And this time we can finally learn some of Night's embarrassing ones.-

-Noel!-

Noel ignored the indignant squeak from Hope and approached Vanille, taking her hands between his. Kindred spirits call each other, after all.

-I'll tell you everything I know of Night and you'll do the same. Deal?-

-Deal! Although I'm afraid that we have less to talk about than you. It's been ten years from his, and your, perspective.-

-Nonsense. He hardly talks about his past before arriving here so I'm sure everyone will be interested.-

-Maybe he doesn't want to talk about it then.- said Lightning. If Hope haven't said anything about their past they should respect his desires. Noel gave her a long stare before slightly smirking. She didn't know why but she didn't like that smile.

-Don't worry Light. Most of the reasons of my silence were that I didn't feel comfortable talking about you without any of you present. Now that's no longer a problem, isn't it?- he nudged softly on her shoulder.

-I guess it's a good way as any other to know everything that has happened to you in these years.-

-Wonderful! Oh great Caius, lead us, mere peasants, to the square.-

-You should stop being such a jester. One of these days your mouth is going to create you problems and I'm not going to be there to help you.-

-As if you'd let me get hurt so easily. If it isn't your overprotectiveness it'll be your fear of what Yeul will do to you if something where to happen to me and you didn't anything to avoid it.-

All the response that Caius dignified to give him was a slap on his head that made him lose his step and nearly falling. They kept bickering the whole way until they reached the place where the feast would be held.

Unlike Ardant, there were no tables. There was only the beginning of a great fire and some places to sit down around it. It seemed that the feast was like an enormous barbeque. They could see that the villagers were distributing themselves in different groups, some of them by family, but others were of people with the same color of clothes. They should ask Hope about it once they had the chance although Lightning had the feeling that it was related to their role inside the village or something similar.

The preparatives were quick and efficient, led by people in dark pink clothes, so the feast was ready in less than an hour. Hope indicated a place where everyone could sit comfortably. They were joined by Yeul and a small group of young people who were curious about them, but not enough to start a conversation with them. Actually, Noel and Hope where in the middle, separating both groups. Or maybe acting as their go-between in order to include everyone.

The feast started once the night fell and the Feither gave a few words which Hope translated them as a toast in the explorers and hunters honor.

The atmosphere around them soon turned festive, with people laughing, dancing, eating and drinking to their hearts content.

Vanille and Dajh had their eyes wide open, trembling in excitement before abandoning all pretenses and started to dance near the pyre. Serah soon joined them.

Sazh, Snow and a reluctant Caius started a drinking contest which the last was currently winning.

Lightning stared warmly to her sister's dance movements. Unsurprisingly, she was getting surrounded by children. Her charm was indisputable.

-It's not a bad place, isn't it?- asked Hope, who sat down closer to her, offering a cup. It was still difficult to relate her young Hope with an adult one who was drinking an alcoholic beverage.

-Not, it's not. You could have ended in a worse place.- she hesitated for a moment. Maybe this will be her only chance to try to start making amends.- Look, Hope, I'm sorry.-

-What for?-

-For breaking my promise of always protecting you. I let go of your hand. It's my fault that you were alone all this time.- her knuckles were getting white with the strength of her fist. She could felt her nails sinking in her skin.

A big hand, bigger than hers, took her hands and opened her fists. The blood showed that she actually injured her palms.

-You're always like this, Light. It wasn't your fault. No, let me, please.- he interrupted her.- You always tend to burden yourself with other people's problems. This time there was nothing you could have done to avoid what happened. And it was me who released you, so it's my fault in the end. But I don't regret it because I feel that, in the end, it was the right decision. So please, Light, stop blaming yourself. The one who should ask for forgiveness it's me, for worrying you so much.-

-Don't be an idiot! It's not your fault.-

-Exactly.-

A warm feeling invaded her body, comforting her. She needed to hear those words because she could felt herself relaxing, as if a great weight disappeared from her shoulders. A greenish and familiar glow got her attention. When she checked her hands she found her skin healed.

-You still have your touch.-

-Hope! Come to dance with us!- exclaimed an overexcited Vanille.

Hope took his hands off hers and she suddenly felt way too cold. She gazed at Vanille's struggle with Hope, who didn't want to dance. It was a funny sight because Vanille couldn't force Hope to move like before, seeing that now he was in fact stronger and weighted more than her.

-Hey, all of you have powers like Night?- asked Noel, over Hope's shoulder.

-Yes, more or less, but they aren't very powerful.-

-Really? What a shame. We have our own kind of magic of course, but it was awesome to see Night's in action. Some of the elders wanted to build a shrine close to the lake when he was still a crystal. I think some of them were disappointed when one night he became a boy made of flesh- joked Noel, which gained him a jab on his ribs, courtesy of Hope.

-You where there? When he woke up?-

-Of course I was there! I was the closer to him until and after he woke up.-

-What do you mean by "until"?-

-He hasn't told you what happened when he landed?-

-No, he only has told us about how many years have been since he landed here.-

-Oh, can I tell them Night? Please, I love to tell that story and the kids don't ask about it as much as before.-

-Do as you please, Noel, as if I could stop you.-

-Great! Then, let me tell about the day our lives changed. The day when a midnight's hope reached our village.-

* * *

 _A/n: I know that Noel seems OoC, but I've always thought that he would be like that if he had the chance to grow up in a happier place/period than his._


	10. Chapter 9

_A/N: I have a confession to make. This chapter, what happens in it, was the first scene I had imagined in this story. Actually, the rest of the plot (from previous chapters and the ones to come) exists to give this chapter a sense, a reason to exist. I hope you like it because this is the chapter I wanted to write the most._

 _I only own my own words_

* * *

 _~These are the events that took place thirteen years ago~_

He was falling, and he was falling fast. The multitude of lights surrounding him were blinding him due to their brightness. The deafening noise and the strong currents of air that hit him made his body hurt, specially his ears and eyes. It was impossible for him to open his eyes so he was only able to see lights and shadows through his closed eyelids.

He didn't know what would happen with him, where he was going to end up or if he was going to survive this new change on his life. Since he became a l'cie he had to say goodbye to his old self. The hurtful loss of his mother, all the battles alongside his companions and all the sufferings of that cursed journey erased completely the naïve little spoiled brat he always had been. Hope knew that he would never be the same, even if he was able to return to his home. Although now that possibility seemed more and more unlikely.

Thinking about the l'cie made him inevitably think about Lightning. Powerful and prideful Lightning, who took time from her own problems to train him, to make him a dependable person. His partner as she always said when he got depressed or insecure. Her face got burned on his eyes, the hurt and helpless of being unable to save him. He knew that he hurt her when he gave up and let go of her hand but it was the right thing to do. She spent the last days fighting against the world for her sister's sake. It would have been cruel to separate them now that they got reunited again. So he chose. He knew he was going to be fine, he was stronger thanks to her so he'll survive.

Suddenly, the decline of the speed of his falling took him from his musings. The wind wasn't as strong as before so he could open his eyes. He was floating in some kind of cloud-like space. There wasn't an up or down side so he was a little disoriented. Was he falling or ascending?

" _There'll be a time when you will have to choose"_

A female voice startled him. He hadn't heard it before but he felt a weird nostalgic feeling.

" _Will you be erased? Will you change?"_

Erased? What did it mean by erased? –Where are you? What do you mean by that? - he shouted.

" _Will you leave? Will you stay?"_

Leave? Leave where? He was so confused.

" _Choose. You must choose. Will you be a mere man? Will you become a god?"_

A god!? What was it talking about!?

He received no response but the cloud-like space surrounding him receded and he was able to see another completely different scenery. He was in the middle of a night sky, full of little stars. It was beautiful and breathtaking. Not even the nights spent in Gran Pulse gazing at the stars could compare to this beauty.

And then he was falling again. The problem was that this time he could see the ground approaching. He was able to see an enormous forest surrounded by mountains. Fear gripped his heart. He was going to die!

-Alexander!-

A familiar warm wrapped him and he knew no more.

* * *

Noel liked to watch the stars. He could spent hours and hours sitting on the roof of his house, just gazing at the nocturne sky like he was doing at that moment. Those little twinkling lights adorning the otherwise obscure sky fascinated him. He was even named after one of them. Every time he felt lost, insecure or just tired of the pressure his family was starting to put on him, he searched for his namesake and gazed at it. He was seven years old and he was old enough to start thinking about his future. Will he follow his father's steps and become a healer? Or his mother's and become a farmer? He still had time to decide, the training didn't start until one was ten years old, but all his family spent the last months giving him advices and anecdotes of the different roles his family members had taken. It was his life, shouldn't he choose something he liked instead of something that another predecessor of him had already done and excelled at?

His family was a supportive one, helping with clothes, housing and food, but it was too boring from his point of view. He wanted to be famous, he wanted his name to be known by everyone, even the next coming generations. He wanted to be someone like Caius who had such a great potential that he started his hunter training at nine!

To fight against big and dangerous beasts, to protect his village with his own hands. That was so cool! He'll be someone important, a real legend. And maybe then the "Noel" star will become "Noel the braver" due to him, and little children will hear stories of his greatness before going to bed.

-Just watch it star! I'll take your name from you!- he proclaimed pointing to the sky. That was another thing he liked about the sky. You could tell it all your secrets that it won't tell anyone.

But this time was different. To begin with, the light of the biggest star on the sky was getting even bigger. And it kept growing. Noel truly became alarmed when the star was as big as he was. The stars were falling! He went to give the alarm when a blinding light illuminated the whole village.

After a few seconds, the light started to recede. Most of the people in the village were awoken by it and left their houses to investigate. The forest was in silence and once they could see again they couldn't believe what they were seeing. A real star fell from the sky!

On the lake in the west side of the village there was now a tall pillar of something shining like crystal.

After the landing of the star, the children were forbidden to come closer to the lake for days. The elders and some guards inspected it, but they couldn't perceive anything dangerous from it. It was just a pillar of crystal. Taller than the tallest tree in the forest and nearly as wide as the lake, yes, but harmless and that was all that mattered. The villagers were assured of its lack of danger when the Kall herself inspected it and deemed it safe. Even more, they noticed that the lake's water became clearer each day until it resembled a mirror's surface.

The countless spikes that the pillar had became the new playground for the youngest kids, daring themselves to climb even higher. Of course, Noel was the first to arrive to the lake and the last to go. He couldn't explain it but he felt connected to it somehow. It felt from the sky when Noel provoked it! Or maybe it was a test for him. The sky knew of his desire to prove himself and gave him the means. Surely if he was the first one to reach the tallest point he'll be respected by his peers!

With that determination Noel climbed the crystal mound every day, reaching higher and higher each time. His friends tried to stop him. There were a lot of spikes and, the higher he was, the more dangerous the fall would be. Noel didn't listen to them of course, not even to little Yeul. But she was so young that she didn't really know anything so it was okay to ignore her. Also, she was a girl and girls didn't understand boys so… He was going to be a legend and legendary heroes were known for their bravery and reckless doings.

Obviously, as everyone kept telling him, he fell when he slipped on the polished surface of one of the crystal's spikes. He started to fall, injuring himself with the pointed edges of the spikes. He felt scared. What if what his mother told him became true and he got impaled by one of the spikes by accident!? He couldn't become a legend if he was dead!

Before he knew it, he hit the base of a wide spike, and slid until he reached a flat area inside the pillar.

-Noel! You okay!?- the high voice of Yeul reached his ears.

-Yeah, I'm ok!- he answered.-Somehow.-he added to himself.

He checked his body and saw a lot of cuts. At least they were shallow enough that his mother won't kill him for them. He was in pain but was able to move all of his extremities, so he hadn't broken anything.

-I'm going to call for help!- she told him.

-It's not necessary! I'm fine!- he insisted. He truly was, even after that fall. He was going to leave when a light caught his eyes. He turned and, at first, he could only see more crystal. But then he was able to detect something more inside the crystal.

He came closer and then saw it. It was a human shaped statue! It looked like a naked girl who was hugging her legs emerging from the pillar's surface. It was pretty detailed. He could even perceive the eyelashes sculpted on her small and beautiful face. He was mesmerized. What was that sculpture doing there? Was she the star?

-Noel!- it was his mother's voice this time. It seemed that Yeul brought reinforcements. What a noisy girl, didn't he tell her that he was fine?

Regretfully Noel had to leave the crystal star for the day, but he'll be back the next day for sure. Just wait until his mother learns about his discovery! She would be so proud of him!

He started to descend, taking note of the path so he could easily return the next time. He fell on the lake's water once he reached the pillar's base. His mother started to scold him the moment he emerged from the water, Yeul was behind her, but he interrupted her.

-Mom! There's a statue in there! I saw it.-

-A statue?-

-Yes! A young girl, older than me. It was carved on the wall!-

-Really? Then maybe we should inform the Feither about it. But first let me see all of your injuries. You're so lucky. You could have died! Just wait until I tell your father. You're going to be grounded for the rest of the week. Does it hurt anywhere?-

He was going to tell her where it hurt when he noticed something strange.

-It doesn't hurt anywhere?-

-Don't lie to me Noel, I can see the blood from your injuries.-

-No, really mom. It doesn't hurt! I was in pain when I fell but now I'm fine. I don't feel pain anywhere.-

His mother didn't seem very convinced so she checked his cuts closer. She let a surprised gasp when they both were unable to find any injury. There was blood, but the skin was intact.

Once again, for the next couple of days the elders and the Feither himself investigated his discovery. The water had healing powers! Small cuts, small pains and small infections all disappeared if you submerged the part affected into the water. After a few experiments they deduced that it only worked with the water in direct contact with the crystal. If you took some of it and left the village, the water no longer worked. It was clean and pure water, but just water.

They also tried to see the statue of the girl that Noel told them about, but they had a lot of difficulties. The older kids were unable to reach the small area where it was and the youngest were unable to climb so high. Noel was the only one who could reach it safely and suddenly everyone paid attention to him. Everyone wanted to know how it looked like so they kept asking Noel. He even had to draw it! Unfortunately he didn't have any drawing skills so he described it to an older girl who was known to be the best artist and together they made a sketch of it. Noel was then the most popular kid of the village. Even the great Caius was interested in him! It was a dream come true!

The best part was that he got himself a new friend: Crystal! Or that was the name he gave the girl carved on the pillar. His own star. Nobody believed him but he could swear that sometimes the sculpture felt warm to the touch. His mother told him that it was probably due to the warmth of the sun but he didn't agree. Crystal was alive, he was sure of it, so he kept her company.

Every day he went to see her and talked about his day. It was the same purifying feeling as when he spent hours gazing at the starry sky, but now he could touch one of them. A star descended from the sky for his sake. But she was probably lonely so Noel kept visiting and talking to her.

For the next three years he told Crystal everything. How his parents reacted when he told them that he wanted to be a hunter. How many people now survived ailments that killed them before most of the time thanks to the healing water. How Caius kept contact with him to the point to willingly give him advices to pursue his hunter career whenever he asked. How Yeul was becoming bearable. Every little aspect of his life was shared with his crystallized friend. And every time he promised Crystal that he would return the next day.

He was young, he couldn't know that one day he wouldn't be able to keep that promise.

.

The day started as any other. Since Noel turned ten he started his hunter training. Obviously it was a simple training at first. They had to learn the variety of plants that existed inside the Kabul forest. Then they would start with the animals. Alongside those studies they exercised every day. Caius told him that the more he learned the more difficult his exercises would become. Noel couldn't wait to the moment when the battle instruction would commence. He wanted so much to learn how to use swords!

Today's class consisted on recollecting some plants that they were currently studying. The plants where inside the forest, but it was close enough to be safe. Even so, a guard and a hunter apprentice would accompany them. Noel was so ecstatic when he learnt that the hunter would be Caius. He went to see Crystal before leaving with his companions, they were four of them, to tell her of his plans for the day and then he left, promising to return to tell her how it was.

They reached the clearing where most of the plants were. It was a difficult exercise because some of them looked alike and they had to find the correct one. They spent hours working before the guard responsible of them gave them a break to eat. Not even ten minutes had passed when Noel heard a noise that keeps giving him nightmares even today. A low growl broke the peaceful atmosphere. Caius and the other adult were on their guard in an instant. The biggest lizard that Noel had ever saw emerged from the tall grass. It was probably as big as him, with black and yellow coloring and with long claws and fangs.

-A decayer! Why is one of them here? This isn't their hunting zone?- asked the guard.

A decayer? Noel had heard about them. They weren't the biggest animal inside the forest but they were very dangerous. They were really fast and very _very_ poisonous.

-Maybe he was lured by the food's smell.-

-Caius, take the kids to a safe place!-

Caius obeyed and ordered the kids to leave the clearing. That movement provoked a reaction on the lizard. He attacked fast, so fast that the guard had problems to avoid its claws. Guards were trained in combat, but not as trained against beasts as a hunter and Caius was tempted to join the fight, but he had his orders.

-Come on, let's run to the village!-

-But, we need to help him!- insisted Noel. Wasn't Caius job to kill wild animals? Why wasn't he fighting?

-My current mission is to bring you to the safety of the village so keep running. Now, Noel!-

Begrudgingly, he started to run in the direction of the way back to the village. They were unable to see the clearing anymore when they heard a scream. A human scream.

-Keep running! Don't look back!- ordered Caius.

The path to return to the village was the longest that Noel had ever taken. It didn't seem so long in the morning but the constant tension of the danger that they were trying to leave behind was doing a lot of damage to their mental state. Finally, they saw the border of the village. They'd made it! They were safe!

Noel turned to say something to Caius, who was the one in the rear of their group, when he saw them. A pair of glinting yellow eyes. Caius hadn't notice them, occupied with alerting other guards and hunters of the danger, so he didn't see it when the lizard leaped at his back. But Noel saw it. Noel saw the bloody claws extended, followed by a bloody reptilian face full of teeth.

His body moved by its own. In one moment he was looking horrified at the lizard attacking his most respected figure of the village and the next one he felt a horrible pain on his stomach. The next thing he felt was being thrown at a wooden wall and going through it. His whole body was boiling and he could taste blood on his mouth. He thought that he felt hands on him for a moment but he was unable to identify where. He couldn't see clearly, heard clearly or feel anything that wasn't that horrible heat that was melting his bones.

He wanted the pain to stop. He didn't want to feel that kind of heat. He didn't want to feel anything anymore…

* * *

It was weird, the feeling of being in stasis. Hope felt as if he was floating inside a cotton ball, with all of his senses dulled. Sometimes his mind was clearer and he could think. He remembered his life in Palumpolum, his adventures with the others l'cie, his battles against the fal'cie, how his current crystallized state came to be… And sometimes he was so out of it that he was barely able to confirm his own existence.

He had the feeling that he spent long periods of time just sleeping. He wasn't sure but once in a while he was able to see an image of the scenery around him. The first time he saw anything was a lake, full of crystals. It took him five periods of semi lucidity to deduce that those crystals were linked to him.

The next time that he noticed the pass of time was when he saw the vegetation close to him with darker colors. It took him only two periods of lucidity to deduce that it was because the night had fallen.

Hope noticed that the strongest his desire to notice his surroundings was, the more lucidity periods he had. He inferred then that, if he wanted to sleep completely, he could. He was a crystal, he couldn't move and didn't have any motivations at the moment, so why not?

He started to have less and less periods of lucidity when he noticed a foreign feeling. It was like all his body was cold and weighted a ton but his cheek. His cheek was warm. A period of lucidity came and he saw a small kid with eyes the color of the sky. How long has been since the last time he saw the sky?

The kid left and the dullness came back, but so did the kid. Every time he had a period of lucidity the kid was there. He saw him gesturing and moving his mouth, but he couldn't heard anything. The kid always left before the night came, so it was a way to know the time. The kid became Hope's clock and anchor. He was more and more connected to reality the more he saw the kid of sky eyes. And suddenly one day he started to hear him. He couldn't understand him, but it was pleasant to hear again.

Once he was able to hear the kid he started to hear the birds, the wind and the water. He still couldn't move, couldn't do anything, but he was more awake than ever since he became a crystal. Talking about crystal, the kid always said that word to him. It was one of the few he could actually recognize. The kid's name was Noel, or so he thought after hearing others call him that.

Noel changed, he grew up, but he kept visiting him, talking nonstop. He didn't understand all of what he was saying, but he could understand enough. Noel always talked about the same things and made a lot of gestures so Hope knew that he had a younger friend called Yeul who annoyed him but that he really liked in truth, that he liked to hunt, and that he was really happy when he talked about someone called Caius. Hope also learnt how to salute and how to say goodbye, because Noel always said it to him.

Being a crystal was a sad and lonely state, but Noel's visits made his existence more bearable, and he was really grateful to the kid.

Today started like any other day, with Noel coming to give him a good morning and then leaving, but after a while he noticed that the sounds around him changed. The noise increased and a sense of urgency stirred the usual calming atmosphere. Hope was able to notice that the people in the village were in a hurry, although he couldn't see them clearly because to him they were just blurry figures.

Suddenly a group of figures approached the lake where he was. Over the years, Hope had seen a lot of people coming to the lake to clean their injuries, so it wasn't weird to see a group of them when someone was hurt. But this time was different as all of them seemed panicked, moving with frantic movements. A blurry figure in dark colors was carrying another one and immersing it on the water. The pair were surrounded by bigger ones who kept shouting, and a smaller one was close to the one being submerged. Hope was starting to lose his focus on the group when he heard the name of his little friend being shouted by a girlish voice. Using all his concentration, he focused on the figure in the middle and shiver of fear washed over him.

It was Noel, and he looked terrible. He was pale and covered by blood but the most worrisome fact was the piece of wood that was piercing his stomach. The closest persons to him became clearer and Hope deduced that they were Caius and Yeul thanks to the descriptions that Noel was always giving him. What had happened? How come that Noel was so hurt? Hope tried to invoke his healing powers to help him, but he was unable to do anything. He was just a crystal, he couldn't even move but he had to! If he didn't help maybe Noel would die!

" _Why should you care of that person's fate?"_

The same female voice that he heard the time when he became a crystal distracted him from the image of his little friend suffering.

-How can you ask that? Noel is a friend and he's really hurt. He could die.-

" _All people die, what's one more?"_

-He's just a kid. And he's a friend!-

" _What about Oerba Dia Vanille. Is she a friend?"_

-W-what? Of course she's a friend. But what's that got to do with Noel?-

" _If you had to choose, which one would you save?"_

What? What did she mean?

" _Choose. You had to choose. Your friends or a little kid you'd never talked to."_

What was she talking about? Why should he choose? Are Vanille and the others in danger?

" _Choose"_

* * *

This was probably the worst day in her short life. When Yeul heard that a poisonous beast attacked the group that went to the forest she ran to the place where the guards and hunters killed it. The beast was fast enough to have reached the village, but the armed guards took care of it easily, as always. But the ambience of the village was wrong, it wasn't calm but a panicked one. Yeul finally arrived at the scene and she let out a horrified scream.

On the street, close to the dead body of the beast, was Caius and, between his arms, a bloodstained Noel. Her friend was pale and was breathing with great difficulty. He was surrounded by adults who were shouting instructions among themselves. Yeul came closer and saw the worst of all: a piece of wood penetrated his friend's body.

-What happened?-

-He protected me.- answered solemnly Caius. He couldn't take his eyes off Noel.- A decayer attacked us in the clearing and followed us until the village. It's my fault, I let my guard down. The decayer attacked me and Noel pushed me out of his way, but a claw slashed him. The decayer then throw him into that house and was going to continue to attack when he was felled. It's because of me, I wasn't strong enough to protect him.-

-Caius! Snap out of it! We need to help Noel.-

-How? The healers already saw him and have said that's impossible to save him. Not only he's gravely injured and has lost a lot of blood, the decayer's claw has a potent poison. He has a few minutes at most.-

-There has to be something we could do!-

Caius negated with his head.-We don't have the means to save him. All we could do is to finish his agony.-

-What about Crystal? We could bring him to the pillar and the healing water.-

-That water can't heal something so serious.-

-What could we lose trying? Please, Caius, let's try it, for Noel!- she insisted, fervently.

Caius looked gazes with her. For someone so small she had a fierce gaze and he could respect that. He looked at the boy in his arms, still fighting for his life. Noel still hadn't given up so why should he? He owed to him to at least try all the available options. He took Noel carefully and both Yeul and he went to the lake. The adults accompanied them, some of them against their decision. They didn't have the same hope as Yeul.

The moment they reached the water, Caius immersed both of them, waiting for the miracle to happen. They could see that the water was working, because the small scratches were disappearing. But it wasn't enough. Noel's injuries were more severe than the ones the water usually healed.

Yeul was panicking. Her best friend was dying before her eyes and she couldn't do anything. When she heard the horrible sound that the last breath of Noel made, she lost it. She got up and faced the big pillar.

-Crystal! Help Noel!-

-What are you doing? There's nobody inside the pillar.-

-Noel always talked about the girl on the pillar. If there's someone there I want her to help Noel.- she explained, with her eyes full of helpless tears.- Crystal! Please, heal Noel!

Nothing happened. The light of the day was disappearing, just like Noel's life.

-Please, Crystal. I beg you! I'll do anything, but please… heal him…- she cried, with a faltering voice full of anguish.- Don't let death take him from us… please…

She started to cry with abandon, pouring all her pain on her tears and cries.

Abruptly, the pillar started to shine. She ceased to cry, startled. The people in the lake gasped and left the water, scared. Everyone but Caius and her.

They both watched entranced as the whole pillar glowed in multicolored colors. Something like a current of air and water started to rise and move around the pillar. They were making swirls around a small block of crystal which was shining with the brightest glow. To their surprise, the block started to change shape until it tool a human one. The last rays of the day illuminated the crystal figure, who was descending. Suddenly, the whole pillar glowed so strong that blinded them and they couldn't see again until the swirls of water and air covered it. When the swirls stopped and returned to the lake, they let them see a new figure. A young and beautiful person descended slowly from the sky. She had the palest and flawless skin Yeul had ever saw, with a breathtaking short silver hair which was still glowing. She wore strange clothes with flashy colors. The girl fell on the water on her knees. The fact that she was able to be on all fours meant that she was awake. Yeul hold her breath when the girl stood up and looked around her.

-Crystal?- the question escaped her mouth before she could stop it. That got the attention from the person before her, who started to come closer. To her surprise, she put a gloved hand on her shoulder and smiled at her, reassuringly. She had beautiful silver eyes too.

Crystal went to were Noel was. At first it seemed that Caius didn't want to let her touch him but he relented at the end. Crystal hands started to glow, especially her left one which had a green hue. Noel's body started to rise a little on the air and a green light surrounded him. Crystal touched the wood, which decayed upon her touch leaving an open injury that started to bleed. The glow on Crystal's hand changed to a purplish color and a weird clot was expulsed from Noel's body. The color returned to his face and all of his injuries started to heal completely. Finally, a reddish light that looked like a feather entered Noel's body and he jerked awake, gasping for air.

Crystal fell onto her knees, exhausted. She was starting to lose consciousness when she heard her recently acquired name called.

-Crystal?- asked weakly Noel, with a raspy voice.

Crystal smiled at the boy, who was still held protectively between Caius arms, who just looked a couple of years older than her.

-My name's Hope.- answered him an indisputable male voice, before its owner fell unconscious on the water.

.

.

After that, it took several weeks before the villagers stopped to revere Hope, who had the most suiting name from their point of view. It took months for Hope to learn the language of the phartenni in order to communicate easier with them. It took years before his friends stopped to mock Noel because he mistook Hope for a girl, some of them still do it nowadays.

But it took just a few days for the strongest friendship to be created in the village's history among the four persons involved in the "rebirth day".

But that's a story for another day.


	11. Chapter 10

**_I only own my own words_**

* * *

Lightning couldn't sleep. She was staring at the grey ceiling above her, barely blinking, so immersed in her thoughts.

She was currently resting in one of Hope's extra futons, at his home. After dinner, Hope led them to his house, a small but cozy wooden house close to the lake he landed as a crystal. Hope's house had two bedrooms, Hope's and a guest room which was usually used by Noel or another explorer who wanted to spent the night (it was quite common among the phartenni to sleep in their friend's houses), so they made two groups by gender.

Lightning was still processing the information she had learnt that night. Helping a stranger without minding the possible consequences of was reckless. It was too risky. It was all so… so Hope.

After the change of heart he had in the middle of their l'cie journey, when he stopped being an avenger to be the best supporter one could hope, his kindness grew as much as his power.

Lightning was thinking about how Hope was forced to take decisions and choices by himself, once again having to behave as someone older than he was. She was thankful about the relationships he was able to make here. Noel seemed like a great guy but, there was something that didn't sit well with her. Noel's eyes when he was talking to or about Hope shinned with a special light. The same light she once saw reflected in Hope's eyes when he looked at her. The admiration and fondness in them were unmistakable. What would Noel do when Hope returns home? What would Hope do? Will he blame them for having taken so long to come for him and thus obliging him to make such strong bonds only to break them the moment they arrive?

With those turbulent thoughts Lightning closed her eyes, letting Serah's soft breathing lull her to sleep.

.

.

The next morning, she woke up nearly at the same time as the others, something really weird for her seeing that she was used to be the first one to wake up. It seemed that they were more tired than they thought. After refreshing herself, she came to the living room, which was connected to the kitchen, to see a laughing Fang and a tied Snow.

-Do I want to know what happened?-

-My hero tried to make himself useful by cooking breakfast.- answered Serah, who was bringing several dishes to the big table in the center of the room.

-Surely you'd stopped that disaster.-

-Of course. I still remember how he left our kitchen when he tried to "surprise me" on my birthday. Lebreau even had a poster on hers with an "unwanted person" and his photo on the door.-

-It wasn't necessary to tie me up!- complained the blonde

-You don't stay still otherwise.- stated Serah, who calmed him with a peck on his forehead.

When all the food was on the table, they started eating. The fruits and vegetables looked different to the ones they were used to, but they were tasty. Once they finished everything, the ones who didn't helped making breakfast cleaned the dishes.

-I think we should talk about our options, now that we are all reunited once again, right?- said Sazh. –Is there even a way to come back to our home?-

That was the big question, wasn't it? They didn't know how they'd come to this world so didn't know the right means to come back. It wasn't like there was a portal or a door connecting both worlds, nor a big bad fal'cie they needed to destroy to achieve their goals. This time they were completely blind. All shared that mindset so the mood got somber quite fast.

-There might be a way.- said Hope, who was drying his hands. He was the only one without a depressed air around him, only a contemplative one.

-What do you mean?-

-When I arrived here there was one person who knew about my situation, at least the most important aspects of it. The phartenni had someone connected to the Nature, and I'm saying it with a capital letter. They call her the Kall and is someone like a seer or a shaman. She's able to communicate with the spirits of the Nature so she's the one who is more likely able to know the answer.-

-That's great! When can we meet her?- wanted to know Sazh, now that there was a new hope for their future.

-For you, probably never. She rarely comes to the village, not wanting to pollute her aura with the mundane ones. She doesn't let outsiders to see her either.-

-Then, what can we do?-

-Don't worry. I was already thinking about visiting her today. Unlike you I'm a member of this village so I'll be able to see her and ask her for her help. Which reminds me, I should be getting dressed if I want to come back by lunch time.- he said before leaving them alone in the living room.

-Hope!- shouted Vanille.-Hope, can you heard me?-

-Yes!- answered his muffled voice.- Do you need something?-

-What should we do until you come back?-

They heard some rustling sounds coming from his room before he emerged from it, wearing teal colored clothes. The long coat made him look even taller than he really was.

-And those clothes?-

-They are necessary to ask an audience with Kall, that way nobody will attempt to stop me on my way asking for assistance in one of my jobs.-

-Jobs? As in plural?-

-Yes. Did you notice the colors of my clothes? In this village you can know someone's job only by looking at their clothes. I'm an explorer so I wear black. I'm also a healer so I wear light green too.-

-So that's why Shion made that comment along the lines of being proud of wearing black.- thought aloud Fang, who found the color system quite interesting.

Hope nodded, adjusting a small leather bag on his back.-The colors of the clothes are like the medals on a military uniform, they acknowledge your skills and your role in the village. I don't know if you noticed but some of us also have some bands with other colors different from our main role's ones, if you wish to call it like that. Those mean your ability to help in other areas. In my case my main roles are as an explorer and a healer, but I can help dealing with wood and building something with it. Noel's blue ones mean that he's able to help with the maintenance and distribution of the water. And so on.-

-Wow, that's fascinating.-

At that moment, Noel came inside Hope's house, without knocking.

-Good morning! Night, how come you're still here. I thought that I wouldn't find you at home anymore.-

-I'm leaving, I'm leaving. I'll be back soon, if you need something, just ask Noel. He's usually reliable.-

-Exactly. Ey, what do you mean "usually"?- but Hope had already left so he didn't hear him.- I'll have you know that I'm one of the most reliable men in this world. Ungrateful bast….- Noel didn't finish his insult remembering that there was a kid in the room. He stood awkwardly in the middle of the room. Now that they knew their meaning they noticed Noel's bands on his shirt right away.- So, there's anything special you wished to do today?-

-Not really. What are we allowed to do?- wanted to know Vanille, with her peculiar way of asking, tilting her head and with her hand on her chin.

Instinctively, Noel also tilted his head before he noticed it and righted himself again.

-Well, you're pretty much allowed to do as you please around the village as long as you don't hurt anything or anyone. Night explained to you what did those grey cords around your necks mean, right? They're like a free pass to our village!-

-Your way of talking doesn't match with the rest of the village. Why is that?-

-I remind you of Night's, right? That's because he taught me his language. Even though it sounds like the neutro they have a lot of differences. But coming back to my reason to be here, is there anything you want to do? Night told me that you can stay at his house too, if you want. He has a lot of books and you're free to use anything in this house as you please, as long as you don't break it obviously.-

-In that case, I'll stay. I wish to rest little more.- said Sazh, sitting on a comfortable couch look alike. Dajh joined him shortly.

-And the rest? Do you have any idea of what you want to do or see? For example, what were you talking about before I came here?-

-Hope was explaining us the color system of your clothes.-

-Handy, isn't it?- he said, touching his bands.- If you want I can show you the different jobs around here. Night gave you the tour around the village in the evening, so most people were at their homes. That way I can show you all the meanings of the colors.-

-Well, that's surely useful. That way we can know who we are talking to or who to ask for help.- mused Lightning

-Exactly. So, who's coming?-

In the end, only the Katzroys stayed at home. The rest accompanied Noel through the village once again. They had to admit that seeing it with the morning lights gave it a different feeling. Everything seemed to shine. It was like being in the middle of a fairytale. All the shining shades reminded Lightning of Gapra Whitewood, but in green. And not so artificial, obviously. Noel explained all the jobs they saw and the color associated to them. He was a chatter box, but he was really helpful.

-Ey, do any of you know why the kids wear brown?- asked when a group a brave children came closer to them, and were charmed by her sister, once again. The children didn't talk neutro very well so they had to rely on Noel to communicate with them. When none of them offered an answer he continued.- Is weird for a wild animal to attack the village, even more since Night came, but in the case of that happening is easier to hide from them among the woods and foliage in brown colors.-

-So it's a way to protect them! That's incredibly cleaver!- admired Vanille, enchanted with the idea.

-Then, can you tell now why outsiders like you wear such a flashy color?-

-Because is easier to locate us in this color- said Lightning, fisting a part of her bright yellow shirt.- So if there's an attack the animals will come to us first.-

-Exactly!-smirked Noel, ignoring the faces they pulled.- Actually, the main reason is to make difficult for an outsider to sniff around without anyone noticing, or to locate them faster if they try to run after doing something not allowed to the village. Be either us or a wild animal, as long as they wear those clothes they'll be an easy prey.-

-How delightful- sneered Fang, moving closer to Vanille. Her overprotectiveness must have woken up after hearing that they were practically walking baits.

-Don't worry, once you're allowed to cut off those grey cords you can wear your own clothes once again. And it's not like any of us will deliberately hurt any of you. We know that you're really important to Night so we'll protect you-

-Thank you. If you don't mind we'll go this way- said Fang before tugging Vanille by the hand and leading them in another direction.

-Hmm, did I say something wrong?-

-Don't mind her. Fang is really protective of Vanille so she'll need some time alone with her to calm down.- explained Snow. – Say Noel, why do Caius and Yeul wear purple and lilac? If I not wrong, hunters wore dark grey clothes right?-

-You're right but both of them are an exception. The only ones who wear purple in the village are Kall and the Feither, our leaders. Caius and Yeul are their apprentices so they wear a lighter tone.-

-So Caius is going to be the next Feither? That's impressive.-

-None of the previous jobs you showed us had people with lighter colors on their clothes. Don't they also have apprentices?- wanted to know Serah

-Of course they do, but you learn a job when you're younger so all the students or apprentices wear brown clothes, or the color of their main role and a small band in the color of the job they are learning. Actually receiving the color of your first job is a way to acknowledge you as an adult.-

-What was Hope's first role?- asked Lightning, interested

-You know, is so weird to hear you call him that. It's almost impersonal. As you know his full name is Midnight's Hope but that's only used in special moments or ceremonies. Anyway, thanks to his act of saving me in such a spectacular way, he was first introduced to the healers, but he wanted to become an explorer to be able to search for all of you outside this forest so he pretty much did both of them at the same time. He only needed 5 years to become an explorer which was quite a feat for an outsider.-

-You're wrong-

-About?-

-His full name's Hope Estheim.-

Noel stopped and looked at her with the most serious face they saw of him since they met him. He seemed to evaluate her with his silent stare. Lightning didn't avert her eyes, his gaze was hardly intimidating but it was unnerving her a little the expression on his face. Why the sudden seriousness?

-What right do you have to refute his chosen name? You aren't his family nor his lover so your opinion doesn't count. It'll make you good to remember that you're no longer in your country and your customs are different from ours. Midnight has been using his name for the past 5 years. Where were you when he chose his name and maybe your opinion could have mattered?-

How dare he!? Who did he think he was, talking to her in that way? To even insinuate that her lack of presence on Hope's life was something she chose? She was raising her fist before she even noticed when a hand grabbed her arm and another one hold her by her waist.

-Wow sis, stop stop. We don't want to hurt anyone from the village, remember? Hope's life is on the line.- Snow tried to reason with her. Being reminded of the consequences of their acts for Hope wellbeing, she stopped, but was still seething. – And you, that wasn't nice you know? We didn't arrive here until two years ago and even then we were mere crystals so it's hardly our fault that we weren't by Hope's side. Even Sazh, who was the first one to wake up, did it only four years ago.-

Noel only shrugged, not looking regretful for his words. Feeling quite fed up at the moment, Lightning threw Snow hands off her and started to walk in another direction. That brat, thinking that he had the right to being offended in Hope's stead, as if he was a more relevant figure in Hope's life than her. But wait, he has been by Hope's side for the last ten years, while she only spent a few days on his company, so long ago. It didn't matter, those days were life-changing and their bonds were the strongest. She was his mentor, Hope said so! But it have been ten years, for a teenager that was pretty much the same time as he had been alive. What if Noel and the rest of the phartenni were now more important for Hope than them? No, no, no, Hope was a former l'cie, like the rest of them. That was something no one can take from them. But Noel was right, there wasn't any other relation between them as she wasn't Hope's family nor his lover. How could she? Hope was fourteen when they met. Although that wasn't the case anymore…

Lost in her thoughts she didn't notice where her feet took her until she started to hear a familiar noise. The sound of weapons clashing and labored breathings. Looking around her she saw a group of people surrounding something that looked like a ring. It was on a level lower than the ground where most people stood so Lightining couldn't see who was inside until she came closer. For some reason she didn't find it surprising to see Fang playing with some young warrior. By the state of some of the onlookers, she had been fighting for a while.

-Yay! Another one who fell! Way to go Fang!- exclaimed cheerfully an excited Vanille. She waved at Lightning as soon as she saw her.

-For how long have you two been here?-

-Enough to get tired of these beansprouts.- answered Fang who seemed to have noticed her arrival.- What do you say? Do you want to show these children how the adults fight, miss Bodhum Guard Corps?-

Fang was moving her hand in the universal gesture of "come here". Lightning was still irritated by Noel's comments so a spar should help her to relieve a little of stress.

-Great! It's been a while since the last time you two faced each other! Hey, do you have any weapons we could borrow? A lance and a short sword if you don't mind. Thank you!- chirped Vanille.

The villagers wanted to see a fight between the two women because they acceded and brought some training tools which were quite close to what Vanille asked for.

Fang and Light adopted their customary fight stances and waited for the other to make the first move.

-Ready?-

-No magic allowed-

-Fine by ME!- shouted Fang before running straight at Lightning.

The dust her attack produced when the lance met the ground showed that she was as stronger as always. Fang was stronger than Lightning and had more resistance, but Lightning was faster and more agile so they were even. Their weapons collided with each other once and once again, blocking and attacking, without rest. Every time Fang had the upper hand, Lightning made one of her acrobatic moves to widen the distance between them before trying to reach Fang's blind side to attack. Their audience was enjoying the spectacle if their gasps and sounds of awe were any indication of it. But Lightning didn't hear them, she was too concentrated in Fang and her desire to defeat her. Not even Fang was really so important, she only wanted to hit something with all her force. She needed a way to get rid of all of her frustrations and this was the best way. Without thinking, only letting her instincts and trained body guide her.

An accurate hit on one of Fang's hands gave the opening she was waiting for and was able to bring down her, taking care of securing her hands to avoid a desperate attack to turn the tables.

-Ok, I give up! Geez, you were quite feral there. What has you so irritated?-

-Nothing.- Lightning helped Fang to stand when everything around them exploded in noise. All the people who saw them fighting were cheering and shouting, delighted with the show.

The sound of clapping reached her ears. She looked at the onlookers only to find Serah's group there. But they were accompanied by someone else. It seemed that they truly got lost in their fight and didn't notice the time it lasted, because Hope had returned. He was clapping enthusiastically, with a brilliant smile on his face.

Suddenly Lightning didn't feel so angry anymore.

.

.

It was lunch time so they decided to go to Hope's house and eat before talking about Hope's visit to Kall. The Katzroys were there to receive them and, while Hope, Fang and Lightning showered, they helped preparing the food. After everyone ate, they sit forming circle so they all could see each other's faces when talking.

-As all of you would probably be wondering, I was able to see Kall. I managed to talk to her and she assured me that she will come to the village soon.- explained Hope

-What do you mean that she'll come to the village? Didn't you have the chance to ask anything about our situation to her?- wanted to know Serah

-It doesn't work like that with her. She is in a constant state of meditation, to be able to feel any danger that comes to the village that can be prevented so, in order to interact with normal people, she has to do some rituals to purify her aura or something like that. The path of the Kall is mostly unknown to everyone but their apprentices so I'm afraid that I can't be any more precise. Anyway, Yeul will notify us when the Kall will be ready to meet us. Well, now that problem is out the way, how was your day?-

-I met the young guards and hunters wannabes. They are so damn cute, brandishing their big dangerous weapons around. Thankfully the missy here came and I could actually break a sweat.-

-Don't be so hard on them. As students they learn more to fight against wild animals in groups than to face off alone another skilled fighter.-

-A wrong move as I've ever seen one.-

-And the rest of you? You were all the morning with Noel, right?- Lightning pulled a face. Although it was a small change, Hope had spent enough time with her to notice it. – Did something happen?-

-Nothing important, don't worry.- assured Serah, avoiding to mention the previous confrontation between his sister and Hope's friend.- Ah, but he told us about the different jobs and their color code. It´s such an interesting way to classify everyone! And he also showed us the elevators and all the mechanisms you helped to create. I didn't know you had engineering knowledge.-

Hope seemed a little uncomfortable all of sudden.

-Agh, it's been so long since the last time I've talked about it… My family was really well off, so I went to the best schools that Cocoon could offer. Soon it was obvious that I was… more intelligent that the rest of my schoolmates. I was tested and allowed to skip some grades.-

-Grades? As in plural?-

-Hm, yeah. That fireworks show in Bodhum that started all of this? It was a reward for me for my admittance at Palompolum University.-

-Wait wait wait, Hope you were fourteen at that time, right?- exclaimed Sazh, a little agitated. Hope nodded slowly.- God dammit! Unbelievable. Why didn't you say anything when we were travelling through Grand Pulse?-

-It wasn't something relevant at that moment.-

-Ha! Don't you just love it when things get even more interesting?- started to laugh merrily Fang.

-Well, it's not really so surprising, right? Everyone knows that those with better mental capacities are more suited to use magic, and no one could dispute that Hope is the best at handling "elemental magic"- added Vanille

The rest kept talking among themselves while Lightning observed, in silence. She was astonished with what she had just discovered. The fal'cie truly messed up Hope's life, destroying such a bright future. Hope didn't deserve to become a warrior nor a mere puppet of some God's whims. He was someone so brave, kind and seemingly intelligent. He deserved so much more than what the life gave him. It was so unfair that he had to suffer so much. Lightning only wished for him to be happy so she decided at that moment that, if she had to get along with that chatterbox of a friend that he had, so be it.

-Hope, look, I found this while I was searching for something to entertain me in your house.- said Dajh while giving Hope some old looking papers.-

-Woa! I forgot that I still had them! How embarrassing.-

Hope's face, usually pale, started to get a pinkish hue due to his embarrassment. Lightning knew that he was already an adult but she'd be damned if he didn't look absurdly cute at that moment.

-What are these?- asked Vanille, throwing herself to Hope's back in order to reach the papers. Hope tried to avoid it by extending his arm and putting them out of her reach, but didn´t count that Vanille was hardly alone, so Snow took them without problem.

-Ey, this is me!- he exclaimed, after looking at them.-And here's you, and you!- he said, handing out a sheet of paper to everyone while Hope hid his flaming face with his hands.

Lightning was surprised when she was given a sheet of paper with a drawing on it. An incredibly detailed portrait of herself. The details of her clothes and even the soft curve her curls had, everything was drawn on the paper along her name and another incompressible scribbling under it. She gazed at the other's drawings and saw that, while they were pretty well done, none of them had so many details as her own.

-Why do you have a drawing of us, Hope?- asked Sazh. Hope mumbled his answer in his hands so they couldn't understand him.-Sorry, kid, but I didn't understand anything of what you've just said.-

Resigned, Hope took his hands off of his face. He blushing so much that even his ears were a little red.

-I've said that I made them in order to search for you guys. Until I became an explorer I was unable to leave the village, so I made those to give them to the explorers so they knew your faces if they had the chance to meet any of you while travelling. When they were no longer necessary, they returned them to me. I talked about you, so pretty much everyone was expecting you sooner or later-

-You're so damn cute!- shouted Vanille before throwing herself to Hope in order to hug him with so much force that they ended on the floor. Everyone started to laugh and taunt them. Lightning examined once again her drawing, thinking of a younger Hope spending hours doing them, putting all of his efforts in order to find them. She softly gazed at the blue eyes that were looking back at her, a warm feeling filling her whole body.

.

.

Waiting was something that Lightning always despised. There was little that she didn't like more than to stay put, waiting for other people's moves. In the next days they kept a routine, somehow. All of them walked around the village, helping here and there (when they were allowed or even welcomed to try) or just resting in Hope's house. Fang was a usual presence at the training grounds, so most of the people were already used to the two Pulsians. Lightning also went there from time to time, but she would rather keep an eye on the guards' movements. They didn't know if someone would decide that they were a risk and ask for their expulsion, or worse their deaths.

Although it seemed that that wouldn't be the case. It was true that a lot of people still looked at them with hostility but some of them had started to open up to them. Specially to the youngsters. Dajh was a nice kid so it was difficult to dislike him. After just three days a guard came and cut off his grey cord. The reason he gave was that it was decided that nobody would fault such a young child for his acts and ignorance. The surprise came when the same happened to Serah a couple of days after.

It always amazed Lightning the ease that Serah had to conquer the children's little hearts. From what a laughing Noel said, all the children went to see the Feither and begged to release her. The nice pink haired lady wouldn't be able to hurt anyone, unlike the not-so-nice pink haired lady. It didn't matter that they hadn't any intentions to hurt the village, knowing that they've been taking care of Hope, but the fact that they had powers like him made them dangerous and not trustworthy until proved otherwise. That was the main reason that someone as doll-looking and childlike as Vanille was still marked. And it wasn't ironic that even if their brands are long gone they still found ways to be marked?

Hope was never in the same place for long periods of time. He was always working in some place or another: if he wasn't helping in the healer's compound he was healing some farmer at their house; if he wasn't doing that he was helping with the maintenance of the village's rudimentary machinery, that or designing a new one. There was always someone who needed Hope when he was spending time with them. It was so absurd! The phartenni reminded Lightning of a small kid who keeps asking for the same toy in order to avoid that their sibling used it. Not that Hope was an object, but the simile prevailed.

In those moments was when Lightning went to the training grounds to let go of some of her frustrations. Didn't the villagers understand that it had been ten years since the last time that Hope saw them? Shouldn't they be more considerate to them? They were able to see Hope everyday! It was so damn unfair.

Today she was alone training. The students let her a small space to train without interfering with them and she was grateful. She liked a good fight like any other warrior, but sometimes she wanted to be alone and just practice her routine. It was in the middle of one of her usual movements that she noticed a new presence. Still as a statue Yeul was watching her, with such cold eyes that they never gave Lightning any other message than that they weren't wanted there. She though that being one of Hope closer friends she would be more approachable but it was clear that Yeul wasn't thrilled with her arrival.

-You are wanted at the main tent.- the girl said, with a monotone voice.

-Do you know why?-

-If you hurry you'll know it soon.- and she started to leave, dismissing any attempts at talking that Lightning might have.

-Ok, that's enough. What exactly is your problem?- asked Lightning, once she caught with her.

-I don't understand what you're talking about-

-You well damn know it. I accept that you lot don't like foreigners but this is absurd. We aren't even from this world so your prejudices shouldn't apply to us. You accepted Hope, right? So why do you refuse to give us a chance? You're so hostile to us since the first day. Don't you think of how Hope must be feeling, seeing a friend of his treating us that way? Do you think is fair to Hope to make him mediate both groups..-

-Shut up!- shouted Yeul, facing her. The rage in her previous cold eyes silenced Lightning.-Hope this, Hope that. Don't you dare! Don't you dare to use him as an excuse! You have no right to talk for him. You ask me why some of us don't like you? Of course it doesn't have anything to do with the fact that you're an outsider. He's been with us for the last ten years. He's our friend, our savior, our brother! We'd experienced so many things alongside him. Some of us even owe him our lives. And you came here, from seemingly nowhere, claiming some kind of right over him like you owned him just for a few days that you spent fighting in his company. Who do you think you are, coming here and expecting us to accept you with arms wide open.- she was raising her voice with each new sentence, pouring everything she had been keeping to herself all these days since their arrival. Lightning got even more startled when tears started to form in her eyes.- You're stealing him! You're going to take him away from us and you expect us to be happy with you? The least you can do is to stop complaining when we want to spent as much time as possible before he leaves.- Yeul tried to clean her tears from her face with her hands, but hey kept falling. Lightning wanted to console her somehow and was going to out her hand on her shoulder, but Yeul slapped it. With one last glare she started to leave once again. -And his name is Midnight!- she added, before disappearing from Lightning's line of view.

Lightning felt a little guilty for being one of the ones responsible of some of the villagers suffering, but there was nothing she could do. That wasn't something she could control. They weren't from this world and they have to return to their home, it was that simple. At least now she had an explanation for so much hostility.

Remembering that she was called to the leader's tent, she started to walk. Once she reached it she saw a lot of people outside. A guard got her attention and accompanied her inside. All the others were already there, sitting on the carpeted floor. The scene reminded her of the first day when they came to the village, with a big difference: the Feither wasn't at the center. This time he was on the side, letting an empty space in the center. Lightning sat close to Serah, and asked her what was happening.

-The Kall has come to meet us finally. We're waiting for her to arrive to the tent.-

-Is Yeul going to be our translator again?- she wanted to know. Yeul was the Kall's apprentice after all, but she didn't think that she was in the best state for this discussion.

-It won't be necessary.- answered instead Hope.- The Kall doesn't need translators. Everyone can understand her.-

-Does she always talk in neutro then?-

The one who answered this time was the Feither and Hope started to translate immediately, effortlessly.

-No, she doesn't use a human language. She uses the Nature's voice and the voice of all the souls. The language of the souls is known to everyone, even if they've forgotten it.-

Lightning wanted to ask more but the atmosphere changed. All the people stopped talking and an expectant hush fell around them. From the other side of the tent she could see a small figure clad in purple clothes approaching. The Kall was an old woman but it was difficult to guess an exact age. Her posture and long white hair told that she was an elder, but her face lacked the deep wrinkles associated to old age. If she dyed her hair she could pass for a woman on her fifties. She sat in the middle of the space, giving everyone a good look of her. She opened her mouth and started to emit strange sounds. Lightning never heard something like it before, but she could understand them.

-"You wanted to talk to me."-

Hope started to talk in the phartenni language but Kall raised her hand, stopping him.

-"You are not the one who wishes to speak to me. We have already said everything that was essential ten years ago. It is not your voice that needs to be heard today."-

Hope felt silent, with a small bow of respect to the woman and looked at them. The former l'cie felt a little uncomfortable in that woman's presence. There was something about her that wasn't… normal. It was hard to explain, but in their cores they could feel it, that she was not the same as them. It was like facing Anima for the first time, like hearing the Goddess voice inside the crystal pillar.

Fang decided to be the one in charge and started to talk.

-We want to know if there is a way to return to our home.-

-"Oerba disappeared half a millennia ago. Where is the home you wish to return to? You can not get back to what no longer exists."-

-How did you know…-

-Fang.- Hope interrupted.- you need to ask specific questions, but think of the way you ask them. She'll answer with the truth, but she won't elaborate more than necessary if you don't ask in the right way.-

-Is there a way to return to the world where we came from?- asked then Vanille.

-"All the souls in existence are connected. What separate us is a multitude of barriers thin as paper that can be breached once the correct circumstances are met."-

-It's is possible to pass through the barrier from here to Gran Pulse or Cocoon?-

-"It is."-

A feel of great relief filled them. They could return to their home! They only need to know how and then they could leave and take their lives back.

-How can we do it?-

-"Only a great power can pass through the barriers that divide the different realms of the universe. But you all were bestowed with the power to do it. The Goddess blessed you and you bear her mark even if you can no longer see it. You only need to wait for the exact moment when the existing holes in the barriers you wish to cross align themselves."-

-When will that happen?- it'll be a disaster if she said that the alignment only happens every thousand years or something like that.

-"When the last blue moon of the year reaches its peak in the sky you could go to the other side."-

The… heck? What does that means? The last blue moon? What and when was that going to be? They have to wait for days? Months? Years? She said that it was the last blue moon of the year, yes, but which year? The only ones who weren't confused were the phartenni, even Hope looked just concentrated instead of confused, so they must know of what she was talking about. Hope noticed that someone was looking at him and raised his gaze to meet hers.

-Do you know what is she talking about?- she asked him.

-Yes. The blue moon is the name that receives the second full moon in the same month. It's something that only happens every four years or so. I think that there's a possibility that there'll be one this year, because it's been a long time since the last one, but I'm not sure. Noel knows more about stars so I would ask him.-

Well, at least it wasn't a dead end. They still have some way to know what to expect. Once they finish this conversation they'll go to see Noel.

-"You have more questions. You should make them or they will pursue you wherever you go."-

-Our world, how many years had passed in it since we left it?- wanted to know Snow, surely thinking of the members of NORA.

-"Your world is connected to all of you. It started to move once again when the last of you opened their eyes."-

Wait a moment. That meant that for their friends only a couple of months passed since the battle against the Orphan and the fall of Cocoon. Snow was glad that he won't come back to meet a Maqui older than him. One brat turned into an adult was more than enough.

-Do you know who did this to us? And why?- asked Sazh.

-"The Goddess chose all of you to save one of her worlds. The humans in your world call her Etro, the Mother of humanity, Goddess of life and death, whose duty is the balance between them. The world of Pulse was doomed due the lesser gods greed. In order to avoid the imbalance that the destruction of all the human life of that world would provoke she chose her champions. Every one of you was chosen after watching all the people's past, present and future, in order to choose the right ones."-

-What do you mean that she watched our past, present and future? It's that even possible?-

-"The Goddess exists everywhere. The past, the future, everything exists in an everlasting cycle. Etro rules over the souls in the realm without death nor life. With only one glance to a soul she can know everything about it, its potential, its relevance to the world, everything. That was what she did with your souls, manipulating the events of your world's history to reunite all of you. Nothing of what happened to you was coincidence"-

-Do you mean that everything that happened to us in our life was organized by her?-

-"Yes. She needed the warriors able to transform in a monster of destruction that wished to protect. She needed the warriors who fought against their own prejudices to save their loved ones. She needed the privileged ones who lost everything to become the rightful leaders of the new order."-

-I don't understand that. What do you mean by the "privileged ones who became the leader"?-

-"Among all of the chosen ones there were two of them who were no related in any way to the warriors. Etro knew that when she liberated the humans from the chains of the fal'cie, they would need a leader to guide them. After studying all the souls she chose two possible leaders: one who based his power in the masses ability to fight and other who based his power in the masses ability to create. She gave both of them a lot of power, but weaker bodies to be able to discard the one who represented the greatest risk to the human utopia she wished to create."-

-When you're talking about two unrelated l'cie you mean…-

-"Cid Raines and Hope Estheim, two individuals unrelated to the rest of the l'cie who had the greatest potential to became the next leaders of humanity. The journey that the rest of you made to protect the humans' lives was just a test to both of them. One that only one of them passed."-

Lightning looked at Hope but he didn't react with more than a tightening of his fists so she had the feeling that he already knew all of this. Once again she cursed how much time she took her to come to his side. Having that knowledge of how a Goddess used him as a subject of something like a social project and no one to rant who could understand what he was talking about. Damn, even the death of his mother could be just another of the Goddess schemes in order to involve Hope with them. What other reason could have a normal teenager to get himself involved with a group of strangers fighting against a fal'cie. None of the other children involved in the Purge came with them after all. Poor Hope.

-Then the fact that we are here is another test?-

-"Yes and no. This place is the purgatory for you, the point of no return. The Goddess rewards you due to the accomplishment of your mission with a chance to choose your fate. Until the day when you can leave you have to think about what you want to gain and what you are ready to lose. You need to make a choice: will you stay or will you return."-

-Does that mean that we can stay here? We don't need to return?-

-What do you mean by that, Fang?-

-These past days, interacting with the villagers, reminded me of my days in Oerba. The way of life in Phartonn is similar to the one I had in Oerba, which no longer exists. I thought that I had no other option but to return to Gran Pulse, but now maybe we should think about our possibilities.- she said locking gazes with Vanille, who nodded showing that she understood what she wanted to say.

-You should do what you think it's best for you. We have our family and friends there waiting for us but you don't.- said Serah.- You need to give yourself the chance to be happy, now that our mission is already fulfilled.-

-We have time to organize our thoughts. We still don't know when the last blue moon will be so the 8 of us should think things calmly and then decide.- mused aloud Sazh.

Lightning noticed that the noise of the rest of the people in the room increased a little. From what Yeul explained to her, more like yelled at her, that was a sensitive topic. Now that Hope's role in the future of their world was explained they would be probably feeling the finality of his departure.

-"Only seven of you have to make a choice"-

That got everyone's attention.

-What do you mean by only seven of us? There are eight of us.-

-"Hope Estheim already made his choice ten years ago. The Goddess asked him directly to choose to become the closest thing to a god or stay as a mere man. And the decision he took unleashed the rest of the events in this world."-

Hope already chose? And what did he choose? Well, he had been putting all of his efforts to find them so it was easy to deduce it. And he was specifically selected by the Goddess to became the next ruler of their world, that could be what the Kall meant by "the closest thing to a god", right? Lightning looked at him once again, awaiting his smile reassuring her. But this time he kept looking ahead instead at her. She searched for his gaze until he closed his eyes and sighed. And then he looked at her directly in the eyes, with a seriousness that she didn't like.

-Ten years ago she made me choose: between staying asleep as a crystal and wait for your arrival or to wake up in order to save a life and lose everything else. You already know what I did.-

No, no, that couldn't be happening. Don't say anything else. Stop talking!

-I made my choice. I will stay.-


	12. Chapter 11

**Sorry for the long wait but this has been the most difficult chapter for me to write. I've written and rewritten it at least five times. I hope that you like the final result. _The end is near._**

 **I only own my own words**

* * *

 _-"Hope Estheim already made his choice ten years ago. The Goddess asked him directly to choose to become the closest thing to a god or stay as a mere man. And the decision he took unleashed the rest of the events in this world."-_

 _Hope already chose? And what did he choose? Well, he had been putting all of his efforts to find them so it was easy to deduce it. And he was specifically selected by the Goddess to became the next ruler of their world, that could be what the Kall meant by "the closest thing to a god", right? Lightning looked at him once again, awaiting his smile reassuring her. But this time he kept looking ahead instead at her. She searched for his gaze until he closed his eyes and sighed. And then he looked at her directly in the eyes, with a seriousness that she didn't like._

 _-Ten years ago she made me choose: between staying asleep as a crystal and wait for your arrival or to wake up in order to save a life and lose everything else. You already know what I did.-_

 _No, no, that couldn't be happening. Don't say anything else. Stop talking!_

 _-I made my choice. I will stay.-_

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.

A deafening silence invaded the tent. Nobody dared to break it, fearing to confirm the authenticity of that statement, fearing for hope or despair.

-What do you mean that you'll stay? What about Cocoon? Your friends and family? Your father?-

-It's… uncertain that my father survived. Kall checked and she's unable to determinate it.-

-So that's it? You give up, not even trying to see it with your own eyes!?-

-It's not that simple!- said Hope, raising his voice and losing the calm attitude he was keeping all this time. – It's a one way ticket, if I go to Cocoon I'll never be able to return here. What if I go there and my father's dead? I'll be all alone again.-

-Of course you wouldn't. You'll still have your friends and your studies. Weren't you telling us the other day about your acceptance in the university?-

-Hope Estheim had that! A fourteen year old kid. I'm twenty five. It's going to be difficult enough to be trusted again in that world after being a l'cie to add the fact that a teenager it's suddenly an adult. No one'll believe me and, if they do, is more than likely that they'll be more interesting in studying my body than giving me a chance to move on with my life. I'll have to go somewhere where nobody knows me and to start everything from zero again.-

Silence met his words. Lightning stared at him hard, with cold eyes. She couldn't believe the stupidities that there were escaping from his mouth. A hot devastating ire was starting to rise inside her.

-So that's it, huh? So you're taking the coward's way out. Here I was thinking that you have changed but you're still the same scary kid that I first met.-

For a moment it seemed that Hope wouldn't answer, having his head bowed and hiding his eyes. But he proved her wrong when he rose his head and steel eyes met her ice blue ones.

-And you're still the same cruel woman who doesn't know how to control her words if not to hurt somebody.-

Incredibly insulted she stood up and left the tent. She didn't care that she could be considered rude to the leaders of the village, leaving like that. She didn't care about how many customs she was breaking at that moment. She only cared about the anger inside her. The feeling of betrayal filled her. That liar! Didn't he say that he won't abandon her if she didn't abandon him when they were at Palompolum? Did his promises have so little worth? She have been so worried about him and in such a hurry to find him, for what? For nothing, he didn't need them anymore. He had new friends and family to the point that he was going to abandon his old ones. There'll be a day when he would even forget about them. He would forget about her, erasing her existence from his life. A new feeling penetrated her, pressuring her chest so hard that for a moment she couldn't breathe. She didn't understand, she never felt like this before. She needed air.

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.

The next days were really weird for the former l'cies. In one hand the attitude of the villagers did a 180º turn. There were no more glares full of hostility and distrust. The news that Hope wasn't leaving the village travelled fast and, by the time that the night fell, everyone was treating them warmer than before. It was bizarre to walk around the village and receive greetings instead of scorn. The idea of not seeing Hope anymore had truly stressed them. Which took them to the other problem.

Lightning and Hope weren't talking to each other and the group didn't know how to react. It was the first time that that had happened, at least with someone else witnessing it (all of them knew they had a rocky start). Lightning was clearly avoiding Hope, either by being outside all the day or being "busy" the moments when everyone ate together. Hope also tried to avoid coming home while Lightning was inside. They even avoided each other in the village, changing their paths when they saw the other, in a subtle way of course. Not that everyone and their mother hadn't notice the tension between them.

Serah was getting quite fed up with her sister's attitude. She was like a little child moping!. Although, maybe that was the main problem. She had to mature too soon and so fast that maybe she didn't truly know how to react appropriately against an emotional crisis. Maybe she didn't even know what the problem was. Serah had to intervene even if she didn't like to do that with her sister's business but, if she didn't make up with Hope soon, she was going to regret it. They've consulted Noel about the Blue Moon and it seemed that it'll happen in just three months. In a way they were lucky, they'll be at home soon but, in the other hand, they had only three months left before they'll have to say goodbye to Hope. And maybe Fang and Vanille. Both of them were giving the impression that they were considering staying seeing how enthusiastically they shared their experiences with the villagers at dinner. It was stupid to waste the last chances to be with their friends before their farewell.

So that was the reason that she was waiting for her sister to emerge from the bathroom before she leaves to do who-knows-what. She was getting really predictable these days in her avoidance of Hope. Surely, just a couple of minutes passed when Lightning left the bathroom, ready to face the day.

-Good moorning!-

-Good morning Serah. I'll see you in the afternoon.-

-Wait! We haven't spent a lot of time together since coming to this village. Why don't we talk a little?-

-Can't it wait until later?. I need to go.-

-Where? It's not like you have a job here so you're hardly busy. Or maybe it's because if you don't hurry you might see Hope?- the startled and hard stare that Lightning gave her answered by itself.- I don't understand you, sis. Weren't you the one who was so worried about his whereabouts? Aren't you his self-proclaimed partner? Then why are you now so focused in avoiding him? Don't you think that your behavior it's a little ridiculous?-

-It's his fault!- Lightning raged.-He didn't say anything! He's not going to return with us and he didn't even had the decency to tell us! It's like he's mocking us, dismissing our efforts and feelings when searching for him.-

-You really think that? Would someone who created such detailed portraits of us in order to find us dismiss our importance so easily? And, while I agree with you that he should have told us about his decision of staying here, maybe he didn't find the right moment to do so? Or had something that prevented him to do so.-

-Why are you defending him? You don't care about the fact that he's leaving us? Maybe it's that. You don't understand because you didn't spend any time with Hope. You didn't fight with him, didn't spend days running away from soldiers, nights searching for shelter...-

-And yet I'm willing to listen to him and respect his decisions. Have you given him a chance to explain his motives before you left in such a way? Have you tried to talk to him since then?-

-Why should I talk with someone who called me a "cruel woman"?-

-You started it calling him a cowardly kid. Every time you're angry, confused or hurt you react viciously, either with words or violence. That's part of who you are. I know it because I know you. And I'm sure that Hope does too. -

-Yes, of course everything it's my fault, as always. I'm leaving. I'm tired of talking about Hope and his selfish choices- and she started to go to the door.

-Wait! Before you leave let me ask you something. Fang and Vanille will probably stay too so you won't see them anymore either once we return to Cocoon. Do you also think that their choice it's selfish? Why is Hope's situation different? Think about it!- she managed to shout before losing sight of her sister.

Lightning was so stubborn. Serah only hoped that everything would be fine in the end. Before someone really gets hurt.

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Lightning was fuming. Now even her own sister thought that it was her business to intervene for Hope's sake. If he was so interested in making her understand his reasons then he should be the one to come to her. He should apologize first and then maybe she would listen to him. Or maybe she wouldn't, who knows? He didn't have any problem hiding such an important information from them so why should she give in and approach him first?

But what if he doesn't approach her? He had a new family and friends here, he was actually replacing them with the phartenni, so maybe he truly didn't care about them anymore. He didn't need them anymore. She wasn't an essential part of Hope's life anymore.

Lightning stopped walking and stood in the middle of the path, looking at her hands but without seeing them.

That was the problem, wasn't it? She wasn't a part of Hope's life anymore. There was no reason to be close to each other and, once they leave, she won't see him again. She won't hear his voice calling to her for help, his thankful smile, his bright eyes… After everything that happened to them she started to consider Hope as a member of her family, someone that was placed under her wing. It was a shock learning that the feeling wasn't reciprocated and she lashed out, as always.

Letting escape a long sigh she calmed down slightly. Serah, as always, was right. She had overreacted. But she was hurt. When she was still a l'cie she thought about the future, to give herself a reason to fight, and she always saw the same scene. Serah and Snow surrounded by little kids, the idiots of NORA making noise somewhere, Sazh and Dajh visiting, Fang messing with their friend's minds, Vanille and Hope playing and laughing with everyone. Knowing that such a peaceful and happy scene won't happen, and due to Hope's actions no less, broke something inside her. And she took her hurt on Hope.

She really hadn't learnt anything from her experience as a l'cie. Once again she closed up and was cold to everyone close to her. Ironically enough the one who received the brunt of her temper both times was Hope.

She should talk to him, apologize even. He deserved as much. But how should she start? She didn't understand why but it was really difficult to talk to him lately. Not only due their spat, but since coming to the village she noticed that her reactions to him weren't normal, and that confused and irritated her even more. She guessed that learning of Hope's choice was the last straw.

-You know, by Midnight's tales I thought that you were a smart woman.- a female voice started. Lightning recognized it and admitted that she was starting to hate it a little.- But I think that he was exaggerating.-

-Yeul.- Lightning said, as a greeting.- Is there something that you want.-

Yeul looked at her, with the same poker face and monotone voice. She truly was like a doll with dulled emotions, or at least behaved like one.

-I don't understand you.- she didn't elaborate for a few moments. Lightning only raised an eyebrow. She wasn't going to force a conversation she didn't start nor care about.- You know, I talked to the villagers and told them to left Midnight alone for a while so you could spend the time you have left with him. And yet you avoid his presence instead. I thought that we were similar, that we both cared about him.-

-I do care about him!-

-Interesting way to show it, insulting and rejecting him. If I were you I'll try to spend as much time as I could with him, creating memories that I'll cherish when he's no longer by my side. That was what I was doing when I was in your position, thinking that my time with him was limited.-

-What do you expect me to say? It's none of your business either way.-

-I care for him so anything that affects him it's my business. And you're affecting him. His smile isn't as bright as before and it's because of you. Why are you so angry? Midnight is his own person and has the right to choose about his life. Or it's because you aren't going to be part of his life anymore?- Lightning flinched when she heard that, as it was the same idea that has been rounding her head all this time, and Yeul noticed.- It's that so? There's nothing that bonds you to him anymore, isn't it? You're nothing to him, nor his family nor his lover, nothing but someone from his past and that frightens you. But, instead of dealing with it as an adult, you react like a child. How disappointing. I expected more from Midnight's chosen one. You don't deserve him.-

The young woman left in the same way that she arrived, without giving a chance to Lightning to react. That little girl was starting to seriously irritate her. Every time that she had interacted with her, Yeul said her piece and left, ignoring the other's opinions.

But this time she had to give it to her. What she said truly hit home. Hope didn't deserve her scorn. Someone as kind and caring as him didn't deserve such a damaging presence as hers. But the problem was that when she remembers that Hope and she were taking different paths in life, paths that won't cross anymore, she felt an oppressive and unknown emotion inside her. Being so confused and out of control of her own emotions irritated her, and that made her react colder to the reason of those feelings. It was an unending cycle.

Lightning felt that she had too many things in her head and that was making it hurt. She needed to clear her head so she went to the training grounds. Exercising always helped her.

.

.

The training grounds were thankfully quite empty, only a small group of youngsters were practicing. She was going to prepare all the material she would need in order to train when she felt a presence behind her. It wasn't a hostile one by any means but she felt herself get tenser by the moment. She turned her head slightly to acknowledge the familiar presence but made no further motion to greet him. A few seconds passed without any of them saying a word, until finally he left a small sight.

-This is getting ridiculous. Do you really want to keep being like this with me, Light?- asked Hope. It was the first time that they talked with each other in these days, if you could refer this as "talking", and Lightning hated herself a little when a small feeling of happiness rose inside her at hearing his voice. She couldn't believe that she missed him so much in so little time. She didn't trust herself at the moment so she chose to be silent ad kept having her back turned on him.- Are you going to spent the next three months until your departure without talking to me? Ok, have it your way then…- he said before leaving.

Lightning felt horrible but she was unable to say anything to him. Where could she even start? What could she say? How could she convey her feeling to him when she didn't understand them? And why had had Hope to leave her alone so easily, after so many days without looking at each other? Did she matter so little to him at the end?

Clang!

A metallic noise brought her to the present. She looked at her feet and saw something that she hadn't done in a while. Her weapon laid in front of her. She took it and turned around. Hope was there, staring straight at her, a closed boomerang in his hand. He gave some orders to the people who was on the training grounds and they left, leaving them alone (in a way, because they only moved to the upper level and were excitedly expecting something).

-I had to use all my charm to convince them to let me return you your weapon.-

Lighting noticed to attempt to joke but she was too confused to react accordingly. Was Hope proposing what she thought? Was he out of his mind?

-I know you, Lightning, and I know that you don't know how to let your feelings known by others only with words. Fighting is more comfortable for you so let's communicate with each other.-

Hope raised his weapon in front of him, like a sword, and pointed to her.

-You're crazy if you think that I'm going to fight you. This is a nonsense.-

-Don't hold back, I won't.- suddenly a strong wind started to form around Hope. His left arm shined with a greenish light and Lightning could notice a familiar pattern in the midst of it. Shields appeared surrounding all the grounds, creating a dome that separated them from the rest of the onlookers. –You can freely use magic inside this, they'll absorb our attacks. There are double layers of shields and an empty space between them, so the sound won't travel from either side.- he fired a small ball of fire to the shield and indeed it resisted. The fact that the people on the other side got startled by it showed that they didn't hear Hope announcing his intentions.

-I won't fight you Hope, don't be stupid. Let me out of here.-

Lightning proceeded to leave the grounds when a spark of electricity came so close to her that she had to jump in order to avoid it. Astonished, she looked with wide eyes to Hope who was looking at her with serious eyes.

-Don't underestimate me, Light. You owe at least that much.-

He was serious! He intended to fight her for real! Lightning couldn't believe it but, was it really so bad? He was a warrior now, thanks to the explorer's training, and he was a fighter before, thanks to them (and her, for the most part). And, as much as it hurt her to admit it, he wasn't a child anymore. In front of her was a powerful opponent who knew her fighting techniques while she ignored the results of ten years of his training. She should treat this as a normal spar.

Lightning got in her usual position, back straight, showing her left side and looking directly at the opponent. On his part, Hope flexed his knees, like she had seen doing it before, but didn't open his boomerang. That made her suspicious so she kept her distance while starting to move around him, Hope imitating her. It was always a bad idea to stay still. They just looked at each other for a while and Lightning was starting to lose her patience. For something like this Hope forced her to fight? It was damn boring. Lightning had just made her decision to attack and knock out Hope with a fast and precise move when she heard a splashing sound. She looked at her feet and saw that all the ground surrounding her was wet. A chittering sound alerted her of the attack before she saw it so she jumped as high as she could out of the way. A strong current of electricity impacted on the place where she had been just a second before. The attack didn't stop there because the moment she landed, the wet ground started to freeze. Ice spikes rose from the floor, forcing her to run in order to avoid them. She shot with her weapon and fired small balls of fire to destroy them. When she got a break from the assault she checked on Hope. He hadn't move from his place, having only his left arm raised and pointing to her. His casual, almost relaxed, stance infuriated her.

Keeping her distance won't help her because he could reach her easily with his magical attacks. And he was an expert in those. So close combat it was.

Swiftly, she approached him, blocking his attacks with her blade. Once she got closer she started to attack, without pause. He defended himself and blocked her attacks with his closed boomerang, using it like a small sword. They exchanged blows for a while, without managing to get a good one on the other. They knew the other's patterns way too well. Lightning was starting to move on automatic, without taking enough time to truly think things, just letting her instincts to guide her, and that costed her a bad experience.

Without thinking, she used her usual attack pattern, finishing it with a backward jump and a shoot from her gun-blade. For a moment, she had forgotten that she was fighting Hope, and her body reacted. Horrified she stared at the red mark that it was starting to grow in size on Hope shoulder.

-H-Hope, I-I.. It wasn't my intention to…-

She wasn't unable to finish her apologies when a strong hit landed on her stomach, sending her a few meters and leaving her breathless. Hope had kicked her! Coughing, she stood, bluffed with the current situation. Hope was regarding her with cold eyes.

-You disappoint me, Light. You were starting to take this seriously and then you let your guard down for something so small.- as if mocking her by dismissing the wound on his shoulder, he only passed his hand over the red stain and, after a green glow, the wound closed. – Look at me and fight me for real!-

Enraged, Lightning attacked once again only to get her weapon captured by Hope's. He had finally opened his boomerang and had used both blades to trap hers in between. Turning them with a fast and strong movement, he forced her to lessen the grip on her weapon if she didn't want to have her wrist hurt. He gained the favored position over her and hit her on her face with his elbow.

She spat blood with unbelieving eyes.

-You lost your cool. That last attack could be considered like a bar brawl.- he throw her blade to her feet, returning it.- When are you going to look properly at me?-

-What the heck are you talking about, you brat!- not at second after she uttered those words he was upon her. He grabbed her face with his hand and put his face close to her. Instinctively, her hands went to his, to make him lose his grip, but his words halted any plan she had to scape.

\- I'm not a kid anymore! If you ever cared for me look at me, Claire!-

She didn't know if it was the use of her real name, not having heard it since a long time ago and never coming from him, or the desperate look that his eyes had.

Suddenly, all the pent up ire that she had accumulated all these days was forgotten. The helpless face that Hope was making woke up her better that any hit that she took. What had she been doing? Hope was her comrade, her partner in battle, and she hurt him. She was the responsible for that look. Serah's words, and even Yeul's, came to her and she had to admit that they were right. She had been behaving like a child, running away for the problem instead of facing it. Once again she hurt the person she wanted to protect with her actions and words. She was so damn stupid. She should have heard Hope's explanations and spending all the time she could with him instead of avoiding him. Now the lost time won't ever come back.

She calmed down after acknowledging her stupid actions. She tapped lightly on Hope's hand twice. His hand was so big now, it could grab all her face without problems. He truly was no longer a child even if, subconsciously, she didn't want to admit it before as admitting that was the same as admitting that he no longer needed her help and she was too used to have Hope dependent on her.

He loosened his grip and distanced himself out of her range. Smart boy. There should be some kind of change on her face because his changed as well. There was just wariness now.

-You have gotten stronger.- she commented as she healed her injury. –It seems that I can't take you lightly anymore.- Her smirk was answered with such a bright smile that she could feel her stomach doing somersaults inside her.- Come on, big boy, show me what you got.- she taunted while making the universal sign of "come here" with her hand.

His smile became a predatory grin and the fight started once again.

Their battle was as intense as before but it lost the blind rage and the desperation that had at first. Now they were exchanging hits equally. They were keeping a conversation, each blow corresponding with a question, with an inquietude that the other had, with a way to convey their feelings. Soon they were so coordinated with each other that it looked as if they were dancing. If one of them moved to the right, the other accompanied it. When one blocked the other attacked only to have their attack blocked or deflected and the pattern repeated itself again and again.

They lost all sense of time and, if it wasn't due to the sudden disappearance of the dome of shields, they would have continued. The fight had been refreshing. They still had things to talk about but now neither would avoid the other. They searched for the culprit and found both Oerbians observing them, and pretty much the rest of the village. As they couldn't hear what was outside the shields, they didn't notice the arrival of so many villagers. Now that the shields were down, probably degraded by Fang and Vanille's powers, they could hear the acclamations and applause from the big audience they had.

-Come on, both of you, cut it off!- shouted Fang, with her hands on her hips.

-It's dinner time!- exclaimed happily Vanille.

-No dinner until both of them have a shower. And change clothes, obviously.-

Hope and Lightning looked at each other, studying the results of their "spat". Both of them were littered with cuts, blood and dirt stains and small wounds. Their clothes were full of tears and Hope's hair was so messy that it recovered its "chicken-like" appearance. They both looked so awful that they couldn't help but start laughing, or in Lightning's case, chuckling.

-What do you say Light? Shall we go?- he asked, as if they hadn't beating the other just a minute ago.

-We shall. I'm actually hungry.-

-Shower first!-

-Yes mom-

-Who are you calling "mom"? Keep saying that and what Lightning has done to you will be a mere caress compared with what I'll do to you.-

-Niiiight!.- a cry was heard before a body slammed against Hope.- That was the most awesome fight that I've ever seen! I'm sure that nobody in the village had seen something like it before either.- Noel chatted enthusiastically as he accompanied them to Hope's house, retelling some of the moves and attacks he saw and making comments of his and the other villagers impressions of them.- People will talk about today for years. Don't get surprised if someone ask you for another demonstration or a tip to improve their combat techniques, Lightning. And you! You never told me that you could do something like that, Night!-

-What do you mean, Noel? You never saw Hope's magical attacks?-

-Yes I did, but not such strong ones! That thing you did with the air and the fire was awesome!-

So Hope never show them all of his abilities? Lightning knew it was stupid but she couldn't erase the smug smile that adorned her face the rest of the day.

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.

True to Noel's predictions, after the battle, now known as the "Dark and light storm" (surely a pun using their names), the battle instructor pretty much begged her to do some demonstrations to the future warriors, and some of the old ones. Her days were now full, helping with the students and doing odd jobs around the village. At least none of them had a grey cord on their necks anymore, so their actions didn't put Hope's life in danger anymore.

Her relationship with Hope was mended so they were as close as before, although that meant that she had to spent time with Hope's friends. She didn't have a problem with Caius, she even respected him, and Noel was very likeable, but Yeul… She was too blank faced for Lightning and that coming from her was saying enough. Also, the girl was extremely protective of Hope and made sure to repeat his phartenni name at every chance she had. It was like having to deal with an annoying cousin, someone you had to deal with because they were liked by someone you care about even if you didn't like them and probably never will.

After their fight they spent all night talking about Hope's decision to stay. She had to admit that he was put in a difficult situation when he had to choose between saving Noel's life and staying or letting him die and return with them as if nothing happened. Not even Lightning could let an innocent kid die in front of her without doing anything.

-You know why I changed my name?- Hope asked her, once they stopped talking. She did a negative movement with her head and just looked at him. They were sitting on the roof of Hope's house, watching the stars. – As I said before, it was a way to be recognized as an adult in the village but that wasn't the only reason, as I could have kept it as it was. The Goddess chose me at first as one of the possible leaders of the world. But, by staying here, I couldn't be anyone's hope anymore, couldn't I?-

-You will always be someone's hope, Hope. If not, ask any of the phartenni here. Maybe you've just changed the people you have to eventually lead, from the Goddess perspective -

-Ha, I hope not. I don't have the desire to face Caius to be the next Feither. He's way too scary, thank you very much.- Both of them laughed softly.

-Do you regret it? Having chosen to stay?-

-That's a difficult question.- Hope stayed silent for a while, just looking up and staring at the starry sky.- I've lost a lot of things by choosing to stay, but I've also gained a lot more. I think I've said something like this before: I can make some bad decisions along the way but, as long as I'm the one making them, I won't regret them. Because it's my choice and I'll accept all its consequences, the good ones and the bad ones.-

-I remember it, the moment when you said that. All of us were so confused and uncertain, and you where the one who pushed us in the right path. That Hope was so weak yet so strong at the same time…-

-I haven't changed that much. In here,- he touched his heart and connected his eyes with hers. –I'm still the same.- for a moment Lightning thought that there was something more in those words that what she was hearing, but he didn't elaborate and returned to his stargazing so she did the same.

It was a peaceful night, so different than the chaotic day that they had. Lightning wished for the night to never end.

Unfortunately, the night ended and the next day both of them became busy once again.

Lightning was currently helping Serah and Hope to prepare dinner. She was a little confused lately with the reactions his presence was provoking on her. She wasn't angry with him anymore and it baffled her how little control she had on them. Every time she came in direct contact with Hope she felt warmth all over her body. She felt her pulse rising when she heard him talk close to her and couldn't avoid to smile in return when he greeted her with his smile. Maybe it was just happiness from having made up with him…

All of them sat around the table once the food was served and started to eat. As always, Fang and Vanille had a new experience to share. It was more or less official that both of them weren't going to return to Cocoon with them. They've started talking with the Feither about the process of integration in the village. Lightning could understand it, Cocoon wasn't their home. Oerba was, and it disappeared five centuries ago. They were lucky to have found a place so similar as their old home, or maybe that was also part of the Goddess plans.

Vanille was animatedly talking about the way they raised their livestock when Shion came from the door in a hurry. It has been a while since the last time they've seen her so all of them were startled by her sudden apparition.

She talked really fast with Hope and left hurriedly. Hope also rose from the table.

-What happened?-

-It seems that there's some kind of problem and the Feither has called the explorers. I need to go.-

-Wait, we're coming with you!-

Hope nodded and all of them left in order to go to the Feither's tent, after all if they weren't allowed to know what happened the phartenni only had to speak in their language.

When they reached the tent they saw Blackrock, Shion and two other they didn't know, along with a lot of people but none of them wore black clothes like the first ones. Hope stayed close to them and explained what was happening and what was being said.

-A Black Boots has disappeared. He was supposed to meet with one of the explorers but he never came. There isn't any notice from the group of explorers that was sent to investigate it last week. The Feither is planning to send the fastest and more skilled in stealth explorers as soon as possible to find them.-

-And who are they?- asked Snow. Lightning didn't know why he even bothered. It was clear who will be one of them.

-Shion, Clover and myself-

See, Lightning was right. She didn't know how to feel at that moment. Their time with Hope was limited, and now he was going to leave in a mission for who knows how long. What if he didn´t come back before the day in which they have to leave. It's true that it won't happen until at least a few months, but you never know what could happen. Will they lose their chance to say goodbye?

As she was thinking that, Hope talked with the Feither and the other explorers, receiving orders and making plans. A couple of women left in the direction of the cleansers' place while Hope turned to explain the situation to them.

-I'm afraid I have to go. At least it's a short mission, I should be back in less than two weeks.-

-What do you need to do?-

-Find the pair of missing explorers and find all we could about the Black Boot's fate. I'm going to the cleansers to get ready. I'll see all of you in a couple of weeks.-

Hope left in the same direction as his companions. Lightning followed him, without thinking. Snow was going to follow as well, but he was stopped by Serah. There was something happening that only a few of them seemed to notice and they didn't want anyone to interfere. You never know what the future has on hold for you and it was better to live without regret.

When Lightning reached the cleansers' tent, Hope wasn't there anymore. She looked around but didn't see a hint of where he was. A young cleanser noticed her and approached her.

-Do you need something?-

-I'm looking for Hope. He came here but I lost him-

-Hope? Ah, you meant Midnight.- Lightning nodded, having forgotten that not everyone was used to hear the former name of her friend.- He has just entered the tent to get ready to leave.-

-Why he has to come here instead of dressing himself at home?-

-The explorer's mission is always a dangerous one. They need to be protected from all kind of ailments and diseases. Here we spread special ointments on their bodies before they get dressed.- seeing the worried glances she was sending to the tent, the cleanser made a decision. He witnessed the fight between this woman and Midnight and he wasn't the only one who noticed that something more than blows was exchanged that day, even if both fighters hadn't noticed. Only that was what pushed him to make the next offer.- Do you want to help?-

Unsurprisingly, she nodded.

-Here, clean your hands with this.- he offered her a bottle with an alcoholic smelling fluid.- These ointments and liquids serve as barriers against dirt and small parasites that carry diverse illness. The special clothes that they wear prevent the same small animals to get attached to the fabric and bit them. And this,- he said showing Lightning a small pot with a dark substance.- is one of the most important. The face has a lot of weak spots, like the eyes or the mouth, so it's necessary to cover them with this. Look at how I do it.-

Shion, who was already dressed in the explorer uniform, sat in front of them. She only gave Lightning a glance and then closed her eyes. Her hair was shining and slicked back by some kind of oily substance. If they have all of these things on them, Lightning now understood why they spent so much time cleaning themselves when they came back.

She observed attentively how the cleanser applied the dark liquid on her face. It had the same texture as the paint. He made sure that her eyes were covered. He also "painted" her ears and the area around her mouth. When he finished, Shion stood and went in search of her mask, the last piece of clothing.

-Did you see the way I did it?- Lightning nodded- Do you have any questions?- At her negative he gave her the pot.- Are you able to do the same as I did? – She nodded again- Ok, then, you do the next one while I help Shion with her mask- He left her alone to help the others in their preparations.

-Light? What are you doing here?- Hope's voice asked.

Lightning turned to explain when she forgot what she was going to say. Hope was in the same state as Shion before the cleanser applied the black paint. His hair was gelled back, leaving his facial features free for all to see. She never noticed how much his long bangs changed his face. All roundness from his childhood had disappeared, leaving behind a masculine face was full of soft angles. The dark clothes accentuated the pale tone of his skin and the silvery shine of his eyes.

-I'm... helping.- she said, showing him the pot. For some reason she felt as if she was hit with a dizzy hex, she couldn't think clearly.

-Ok, although I'm surprised they've let you help.- he sat in front of her, with his legs open to give her more space to move and reach all the needed places. Lightning hadn't noticed how close the cleanser had been to Shion, but now it seemed way too intimate for her. She could feel the heat that Hope's body irradiated. If Hope wanted, he only needed to bow his head a little to lean on her torso. – My life is in your hands, so be generous with that.- Hope joked, but she didn't laugh.

Hope's life was really in her hands, the trust he was putting in her was humbling. It wasn't the first time that he has done something like that but for some reason it was affecting her pretty hard right now.

-Light?- Hope asked, after not noticing any movement from her. That brought her to the problem at hand.

-Yes, sorry. I'll start now.-

She took a bit of the black paint look alike and started to apply it on his face. His skin was so soft, it was unbelievable that it was a male's one. She put the paint slowly on his eyelids, admiring the long pale eyelashes, knowing the lovely color of eyes that they were hiding. Her thumb traced his cheeks, leaving a black trail behind. She reached his ears and started to paint them when he jerked, startling her.

-Sorry, I'm a little sensitive there.- Hope said. His voice sounded lower and huskier than before, almost breathless.

Lightning felt her pulse rising until she was able to heard the beating of her heart on her ears and her hands trembled a little with her unable to stop them from doing it. She proceeded to finish her task when she noticed that all that was left was his mouth. She applied the paint around his lips, observing how full they were, especially the upper one. She traced the lower one with her thumb, all her attention focused on that lip. She wondered if they were as soft as they looked.

-Have you finished with Midnight?-

The sudden question surprised her so much that she even jumped a little, straightening her posture. She never noticed how close to Hope she had ended while applying the black paint. She could feel the heat rising to her face and fought to avoid the redness that accompanied it.

-Well, I guess it's time.- Hope said, still with a tone of voice lower than his usual one.- Thanks for helping me and coming to see me off.-

-It's nothing.- It was her or her voice also sounded weird.- You better come back soon and in one piece.-

-Count on it.-

Leaving her with his promise of a safely return, she watched as he covered his face with the black cloth that worked as a mask. It was the first time she saw him in full explorer uniform knowing who was underneath. Waving him goodbye she didn't understand why she suddenly felt her heart drop to her feet as she watched his black clothed back disappear into the woods.


End file.
